Summer with the Arrogant Prat
by Elladora D. Jobberknoll
Summary: After a blazing row with Mr Potter, Lily leaves for her friend Hestia Jones's summer home in France. Little does she know that the neighbor's house belongs to James Potter! And his fellow Marauders are staying for the summer! How will she survive?COMPLETE
1. The Invitation

**Disclaimer:** You really think I have the ability to create the world of Harry Potter?????

Authoress' Note- This story starts from after Lily leaves James and Snivellus at the lake. For full details of this incident read _The Snape's Worst Memory_ Ch. in _Order of the Phoenix_! **E.D.J.**

P.S. Reviews much appreciated!

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**Ch.1- The Invitation**

"You make me SICK!" yelled Lily Evans before strutting away from James Potter, his little Marauder friends, and their crowd of adoring fans (girls mostly).

Lily heard James call, "Evans! Hey, EVANS!"

But she simply ignored him and he, thankfully, didn't follow her. The bloody prat had _some_ pride. She couldn't imagine him _ever_ doing something so seemingly desperate as chasing after a girl who had rejected him though Lily seemed to be the only girl who had _ever_ rejected James Potter otherwise known as Mr 'All Girls Should Drool At My Feet That Means You Lily Evans' or simply 'that arrogant prat who's wrecking my life'.

Lily stormed into the Hogwarts library and threw herself into a seat across from her best friend Hestia Jones whose black hair was tied back as she read over numerous pages of O.W.L.s notes.

"Hey Lils," said Hestia, not even looking up.

"How'd you know it was me?" asked Lily.

"Well only you would be able to sit down that violently. Potter again?"

"Yes," said Lily with an exasperated sigh, fingering a strand of her red hair. "Muggle Studies O.W.L tomorrow?"

Hestia nodded tiredly. "I know you've told me a thousand and one times, but what for the love of Merlin is a television?!"

Lily laughed at her pureblood friend's troubles and explained as best she could about a box with people in it, but there really are no people in it... It was confusing for any pureblood witch or wizard to understand.

Hestia looked completely bewildered and moaned, "I'm never going to pass this exam!"

"Well next year you won't need it right?" said Lilycheerfully. "If you're still planning on becoming a hit witch for the Magical Law Enforcement Squad?"

"Of course!" said Hestia brightening up a bit.

Then Lily's mind jumped back to the incident at the lake. "Do you think James Potter was put on Earth to annoy me?"

"Probably," said Hestia absently, chewing the end of her quill.

"He was torturing Snape down at the lake and... oh you don't want to know!" sighed Lily. "I hate that bloody prat!"

"I know," said Hestia. "You've told me. Numerous times."

"Sorry."

"It's alright, Lils."

Then Hestia's usually pink cheeks became even pinker and she said with excitement: "Oh Lils! I have fabulous news!" She took a deep breath and screeched so loudly that the librarian Madam Pince gave them an obviously annoyed glare, "How would you like to come to my seaside home for the summer?"

"The one in southern France?" whispered Lily excitedly, her bright green eyes sparkling.

"Exactly!" muttered Hestia. She grabbed her books. "Come on! We can't talk in here!"

"You really want me to go with you?" Lily shrieked once they were outside the library.

"Of course Lils!" said Hestia.

"Of course I want to go!" said Lily excitedly. "I'll owl my parents in a bit!"

They both shrieked with glee and hugged just as Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin passed by. Remus muttered, "Girls." Peter nodded in agreement.

"Who else is coming?" asked Lily.

"Monica and Emmeline. I asked them earlier," said Hestia, ticking off the names of their two other best friends.

"Brilliant! This will be so much fun!" shrieked Lily. Her voice became suddenly stern. "Ok Hestia, study for your O.W.L.s or else I'll give you a detention to start out sixth year!"

"Way to abuse your prefect powers there, Lils," said Hestia with a smirk.

"Study!" ordered Lily and she pushed Hestia back into the library.

She was going to spend her summer holiday in the south of France! Lily could positively leap for joy! She ran up to the Owlery and called down a reddish-brown school owl. Lily quickly pulled out a quill and some parchment and wrote,

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I hope everything is fine at home. I have just been asked to spend the summer holiday in southern France with my friend from Hogwarts, Hestia Jones! You've met Hestia. She's the girl with very long black hair and rather pink cheeks. I would love to go and Monica and Emmeline are asked to go too, but I need to know what you think. I'll also add the address of Hestia's parents if you want to write them._

_All my love,_

_Lily_

She quickly added Hestia's parents' address, put the letter in an addressed envelope, and gave it to the school owl. Lily watched the owl soar out of the glassless window as a smile played across her face.

Suddenly arguing voices filled the air.

"Don't lie to me, Mon! You know it's true!"

"It is not!"

"Right."

Two girls appeared in the doorway of the Owlery. One girl was of medium height with light brown hair and blue eyes. She also had an emerald green hair band which she almost never was seen with out. This was Emmeline Vance.

The other girl was Monica Longbottom, younger sister of Frank Longbottom who was a sixth year at the moment, a year older than Monica's fifth year status. Monica had dark green eyes and silky blonde hair.

"Mon! Em!" Lily shrieked, recognizing her friends. "I'm so excited!"

"I know!" said Monica, laughing. "Word has it that Beauxbatons students love the southern France life."

"I told you that's all you care about! She only wants to go because of how cute the Beauxbatons boys are rumored to be!" giggled Emmeline.

"Em!" said Monica, elbowing Emmeline in the ribs. "There's... other reasons I want to go."

"Like what?" asked Lily with a large smirk.

"Well Lils," muttered Monica, racking her brain for answers. "I hear southern France is... very educational. I thought... I'd learn while I was there!"

"You are such a liar!" screamed Emmeline, throwing a quill at Monica. "Come on let's send these letters already!"

"Fine!" said Monica with a sigh. "Chuck me some parchment then."

Emmeline and Monica quickly wrote and sent their letters off.

"Let's get dinner. I'm starved!" said Emmeline and she, Monica, and Lily quicklly made their way to the Great Hall.

They ate dinner and Hestia wasn't around, but Lily assumed she was still studying for her last O.W.L.

Lily, Monica, and Emmeline proceeded up to the common room after dinner and talked animatedly of what they would do at Hestia's for the summer holiday.

"Where _is_ Hestia?" asked Emmeline, glancing at the clock. "She never studies this late."

"And it's just Muggle Studies! She's going to drop that next year!" said Monica, puzzled.

"It is odd," said Lily, getting up. "I'm going to go find her."

Monica and Emmeline quickly got up too."We're coming."

"But...you...oh alright!" said Lily, knowing arguing wouldn't do anything to change their minds.

They went through the portrait hole and down many flights of stairs to get to the library. Lily hurried to the table where Hestia had been earlier, but nothing was there except a large stack of books on Muggles.

Suddenly, Lily heard a muffled shriek. Lily walked down a row of bookshelves in the direction of the sound. Lily, followed close behind by Monica and Emmeline, rounded a corner well away from Madam Pince and found Hestia surrounded by a large group of Slytherins.

Two Slytherin thugs held Hestia back and Severus Snape was holding both Hestia's and his own wand.

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Oooh... a lovely cliffie! Here's a little preview!** E.D.J.**

"I don't think you wanted to pick a duel with me because I ALWAYS win."

"I have lived for this day! The day when the Mudblood Lily Evans stands wandless before me revealing herself as the complete weakling she really is!"


	2. Attack of the Slytherins

**Disclaimer-** Do you think if I offered Ms. Rowling a kidney or something she'd let me own the characters? No I didn't think so either.

**Authoress' Note**- Chapter 2 and former Chapter 3 have been combined to make one longer Chapter 2! Exciting! Reviews necessary for fic's continuation! **E.D.J.**

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**Ch. 2- Attack of the Slytherins**

_They went through the portrait hole and down many flights of stairs to get to the library. Lily hurried to the table where Hestia had been earlier, but nothing was there except a large stack of books on Muggles._

_Suddenly, Lily heard a muffled shriek. Lily walked down a row of bookshelves in the direction of the sound. Lily, followed close behind by Monica and Emmeline, rounded a corner well away from Madam Pince and found Hestia surrounded by a large group of Slytherins._

_Two Slytherin thugs held Hestia back and Severus Snape was holding both Hestia's and his own wand._

"Well, well, Miss Jones," said Snape, not noticing the three Gryffindor girls behind him. "Since you refuse to tell me the whereabouts of that Mudblood Evans, I suppose you will have to suffice for some jinxing and cursing."

"Looking for me Snape?" asked Lily icily and Snape whirled around.

"_Expelliarmus_!" cried Lily and both Hestia's and Snape's wands flew into her hand.

She didn't bother disarming any of the other Slytherins. They were all huge thugs with about half a brain between them all. They couldn't remember to put their robes on the right way let alone remember they had wands too.

"I don't think you wanted to pick a duel with me Snape," Lily snarled, pointing her wand at his chest, "because I _always_ win."

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" she said and Snape went rigid and fell backwards over onto a large stack of old Arthimancy books.

"Now let go of Hestia or you'll be next!" said Monica, noddingat the two goons holding Hestia.

The two Slytherins refused to loosen their grip on Hestia's arms, so Monica and Emmeline each muttered a spell and both thugs fell to the ground, asleep.

Then two more Slytherins grabbed Hestia as the old guards fell to the ground. The rest of the Slytherins were now advancing toward them. One of the smarter ones, called Alexander Avery, muttered the counter curse so Snape was released from the Full-Body Bind.

Snape leaped up, grabbed Avery's wand, and bellowed, "_Expelliarmus_!" before Lily could counterattack.

Lily and Hestia's wands flew out of her hand and onto a high shelf, out of her reach, while Snape's wand flew into his open palm.

"You were saying Miss Evans?" said Snape, a large smirk crossing his face.

"_Expelliarmus_!" cried Avery and Snape and now both Monica and Emmeline were wandless.

"I have lived for this day!" said Snape, his face showing utmost loathing. "The day when the Mudblood Lily Evans stands wandless before me, revealing herself as the complete weakling she really is!"

"Well sorry that's not today Snivellus!" called an angry voice.

"_Expelliarmus_!" four voices bellowed and Snape, Avery, and two of the more intelligent looking Slytherins lost their wands.

"Snivellus! How positively revolting to see you!" said Sirius Black loftily, his gray eyes flashing.

"Yes just smashing good luck we ran into you," smirked James Potter, rumpling his messy black hair as he glanced at the four girls.

"_Accio wands_!" said Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew and they handed the girls' wands back to their owners.

"Tell them to let go of Hestia, Snivellus!" spat James angrily, nodding at the two thugs.

Snape nodded and Hestia fell to the ground and stumbled over to Lily's side. Remus quickly handed her wand back.

"Now Full-Body Bind on my count!" said Sirius lazily. "1, 2, 3!"

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" called the eight Gryffindors.

They was a split second and then all the Slytherins were on their backs, unable to move.

"Good night Snivellus!" called James as the eight Gryffindors exited the library.

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As they walked up to the Gryffindor common room, James fell into to step beside Lily and said with a smirk, "I never thought I'd see the day when Lily Evans was separated from her wand. You looked absolutely terrified, Evans." He sighed and gave her rougish grin. "But you, of course, still looked as lovely as ever."

"You know I have my wand back now?" smirked Lily. "I'm fully capable of hexing you into oblivion for making such comments, Potter!"

"Fine hex your rescuer! Don't even ask what everyone else who's rescued does!" said James, looking wounded.

"What does everyone else do Potter?" said Lily, fiddling with her wand as they entered the common room.

"Why kiss their rescuer of course!" said James, leaning toward her.

"Wrong move, Potter!" Lily snarled, waving her wand.

They was a large pop and James' ears were now about five times too big.

"To hear me better when I tell you what an arrogant, pompous, self-centered jerk you are!" snapped Lily before stalking up to her dormitory.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter climbed through the portrait hole and saw James sitting with his ears hanging down to his shoulders.

"Don't say a word," James snarled.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst out laughing rolling on the floor. James used his wand to magically kick them up to their dormitory.

Then Monica, Emmeline, and Hestia came in and positively howled.

"Nice one Lily!" said Monica as the three girls entered the dormitory, still laughing.

"A little help?" said Emmeline and Lily looked up from her book and saw that Potter had turned all of their hair bright green and orange.

Lily howled with laughter. "Are you sure? I think it looks quite nice!"

"Yes!" they screamed.

Lily waved her wand and her friends' hair colors were restored to normal.

"He's still trying to figure out the counter jinx," said Hestia, patting her once again black hair. Then she shuddered. "Thank you for finding me girls. I don't know what Snape would've done if you hadn't come."

"No problem," said Monica, grinning. "We needed you! Otherwise, goodbye holiday in southern France!"

"Oh yeah that's the only reason why you came looking for me," said Hestia, throwing a pillow at Monica. "For the free travel opportunities."

"Of course!" said Emmeline with a smirk.

"Hestia you still have your last O.W.L tomorrow! You have to sleep!" said Lily urgently having glanced at the clock.

"Yes Mum," said Hestia smirking as she turned out the lights with a flick of her wand.

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No cliffhangers or anything! Be grateful people! Be very grateful. Review about how grateful you are! **E.D.J.**


	3. Marauder Invasion

**Disclaimer**-I own a purple stuffed elephant... that counts as owning Harry Potter doesn't it? Doesn't it????!!!!!!!

**Authoress' Note**- Yay I've finally started correcting some of these chapters! **E.D.J.**

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**Ch. 3- Marauder Invasion**

The next morning at breakfast, letters arrived from Lily, Monica, and Emmeline's parents.

Lily opened hers and read:

_Dear Lily,_

_We think spending your holiday with your wizarding friends is a wonderful idea. Very educational. We give our consent on one condition. You spend your next term's Christmas and Easter holidays at home. Everything is fine here though Petunia is still dating that awful Vernon Dursley. Can you believe he actually was rude enough to say your father's job 'barely margined on respectable'? The nerve of that boy! We will meet you at Platform 9 ¾ with all your holiday things when you arrive in London. Have a good rest of your fifth year!_

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad_

"I can go!" screamed Lily at exactly the same momentMonica and Emmeline said the same thing.

"Brilliant! This will be so much fun!" said Hestia excitedly. "Usually I'm stuck with my parents all summer, so this will be... brilliant!"

Just then the bell rang and they left the Great Hall and headed outside while Hestia kept babbling on.

"Uh Hestia?" asked Lily, stopping and the black haired girl looked up quickly. "Muggle Studies O.W.L?"

"Right!" said Hestia, running back to the Great Hall.

"Have you ever wondered what she'd do without you, Lils?" said Monica with a smirk as the three girls sat down under a tree near the lake.

"She'd probably still be here at Hogwarts, by the time we got back from summer holiday!" said Lily as the girls laughed over the friend's absentmindedness.

Lily was still laughing when she saw four boys, otherwise known as the arrogant James Potter and his Marauder friends, crossing the sunny green lawns.

"Oh no!" she muttered to Emmeline, nodding at the boys. "Please don't let them come over here!"

But sure enough, the boys threw themselves onto the grass beside the three girls.

"Look it's our wonderful Gryffindor girls, former damsels in distress!" said Sirius Black rather smugly.

The three girls collectively shuddered at the phrase and Emmeline said violently, "You call us that again Black and you'll receive an extra head to accommodate your ego."

"We were _not_ in distress!" said Monica, angrily pulling out her wand.

"Touchy," muttered Sirius, nervously eyeing the wand. "But wouldn't one consider someone without a wand to be in trouble or distress?"

"Perhaps," said Monica, gritting her teeth, "but we probably could have got our wands back..."

"Probably?" said Sirius smugly. "So you possibly could have been in distress?"

"Alright!" said Emmeline, sighing. "This is stupid! You win! You don't have to be all smug about!"

"Aw you two are no fun!" whined Sirius. "You cave to easily! Evans! Argue with me!"

But Lily wasn't listening. She was too glaring at James who was busy trying to ignore her evil looks.

"NO!" said Sirius excitedly. "Don't argue with me! Argue with Jamesie!"

Sirius readied himself for a full-on blowout. He looked expectantly from Lily to James.

"Figure out that counter jinx then?" said Lily icily.

"Do you see any giant ears here?" said James sarcastically.

Lily continued glaring at him until Remus said quickly, "What did you girls think of the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exam?"

"Difficult, but not too challenging," said Lily shortly.

"So...." said Peter mischievously. "Which of you girls are in love with James or Sirius?"

They was a general uproar of protest from the girls and loud approval by the boys.

Monica responded first, saying loudly, "Of course me! I can hardly resist the charms of James Potter! You're so dreamy, James." She batted her eyelashes and sighed dreamily.

"Really?" said James, perking up. "I've always thought we'd be good together Mon."

He inched closer to Monica and kept at it until she finally scooted away and smackedJames hard upside thehead saying angrily, "I was only kidding! Get away from me, Potter!"

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Wait! What was she relieved about? She didn't like Potter! She wasn't jealous! She was only looking out for Monica's best interests, which thankfully didn't involve James Potter.

"Any of you love Sirius?" said Remus, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh I simply find him irresistible!" said Lily, wanting to get out of her very strange thoughts.

She smiled flirtatiously at Sirius. "You're so rougishly handsome! I'd date you in a heartbeat!"

"Really?" said Sirius, smiling charmingly back at her. "That might be something I'd need to take you up on, Evans."

"Hey! What's that?!" said James loudly, pointing towards the castle.

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Ok to make up for the cliffie (and the shortness), I give you a PREVIEW! YES A PREVIEW! **E.D.J.**

_"So what are you girls doing this summer?" asked James cheerily._

_"Well we're…" began Monica._

_"Hey Lily!" called a masculine voice._

_"Oh hi! Come sit!" said Lily brightly and a tall boy with brown eyes and dark blonde hair appeared and sat down next to Lily._

Dun... Dun... Duuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!! Ok everyone! If you review, you'll make me happy and then I'll post the next chapter which we will make all you readers happy! Possibly... Oh just do it! Please review!

**Elladora D. Jobberknoll (yep full name and everything!)**


	4. Lily Puts Everything Into Perspective

**Disclaimer:** Sadly I don't own anything!!!!!!!!!

**A/N-** Hi I'm back!** Elladora D. Jobberknoll**

**Thanks to my reviewers!**

**Professor Drusilla W. L. Silvers**- Sorry it's not Frank Longbottom it's just a character I made up!

**The Incomplete Alaphabet- **Thanks for telling others about my story! I know I put Hestia in Ravenclaw in my other story, but I decided to put her in Gryffindor in this one because I didn't want to have Monica Longbottom plus another made up character for a friend of Lily's so I just switched Hestia's House.

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**Ch. 4- Lily Puts Everything In Perspective (Kind of)**

Everyone turned around and looked in the direction James had pointed.

James grabbed Sirius' shoulder and muttered angrily, "No Padfoot. Not Evans."

Everyone was turning around again,so James quickly released Sirius from the vice grip he had on his best friend.

"What are you talking about Potter? There's nothing there!" said Emmeline in an exasperated voice.

"You didn't see it?" said James putting on a confused act. "I could have sworn I saw this weird hippogriff thing flying above the castle! Maybe it's these glasses. I think there's something seriously wrong with them because I've been seeing dancing Snitches around the Slytherin Seeker's head since the last Quidditch match."

Everyone snorted loudly, remembering how the Slytherin Seeker had been bashed repeatedly in the head by the Snitch, dazing him, and allowing the Gryffindor Seeker to capture it easily.

"What were you two talking about?" asked Peter, curiously having noticed James hurriedly muttering to Sirius.

"Oh James was just reminding me that…" said Sirius, pausing so he had more time to think of an answer. "I have a number of dates already lined up for the summer, so Evans, I'll have to postpone indefinitely."

He glanced at James whose face quickly became less life threatening.

"So what are you girls doing this summer?" James asked cheerily.

"Well we're…" began Monica.

"Hey Lily!" called a masculine voice.

"Oh hi! Come sit!" said Lily brightly and a tall boy with brown eyes and dark blonde hair appeared and sat down next to Lily. "Everyone this is Andrew Worchester. He's in our year but in Ravenclaw," said Lily and everyone nodded or smiled at the boy.

All except James who stared angrily at him, the angry, life threatening look back on his face.

Fortunately, Lily didn't notice.

"You can call me Andy," said the boy quickly.

"So…Andy," said James, trying to keep his voice even. "How do you and Evans know each other?"

"Arithmancy class," said Andy, smiling at Lily, "Merlin! I'm glad that class is over!"

"So it was difficult for you?" said James, brightening up a bit at the fact that this "Andy" might not be so damn perfect.

"A bit…" began Andy.

"Oh don't be modest!" said Lily, giving James an evil glare. "We were the top two students in class!"

"Only because I had you to help me," said Andy sweetly.

Lily blushed scarlet and James sat gaping. Why couldn't HE make her blush like that?

"Andy, you're on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team right?" asked Remus cautiously as he noticed the look on James' face.

"Yeah. I'm a Chaser," said Andy casually.

"And he's wonderful!" added Lily, beaming.

James made a mental note to knock Andy off his broom at the next match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

"James is an excellent Chaser too!" piped up Peter and James felt a surge of gratitude toward his friend for acknowledging his talents.

"Yeah, you were very hard to get past at this year's match against Gryffindor," said Andy, nodding in agreement.

"So again summer plans girls?" asked Sirius, going back to their previous subject.

"Blimey! Look at the time!" said Andy, quickly standing up after glancing at his watch, "I was supposed to meet my mate Charlie ten minutes ago!"

He smiled at Lily. "I guess I lost track of time."

"Bye then," said Lily sadly, not noticing the gagging noises James and Sirius were making.

Andy gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he walked quickly up towards the castle. Lily's face turned bright red and James scowled angrily.

"So I see why you didn't want to go out with me!" said James, his voice shaking slightly. "You have Randy!" He made a face and stood up, his hands shaking angrily behind his back.

"His name is Andy!" spat Lily. "But you probably didn't hear that having the attention span of a three-year-old! And HE'S not the reason I won't go out with you, Potter! It's because you're an arrogant, lowlife, brainless prat who can't take no for an answer and you can't stand that I'm not interested! You can't stand the fact that some girl at school doesn't swoon at the name of the 'wonderful James Potter' and who doesn't flip head over heels at the thought of a date with you! I can't believe you haven't gotten that through your thick head yet!"

"Well thank you so much, Miss Evans, for putting everything in perspective for me!" said James angrily. "I can't believe I ever…"

"Alright enough!" shouted Emmeline and Remus, jumping between James and Lily.

"Lily come on!" said Emmeline, dragging Lily back towards the castle.

"Prongs! You're done!" said Remus, nodding toward Sirius who grabbed James' other arm and they dragged him toward the greenhouses, followed by an anxious looking Peter.

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"Oh that git!" breathed Lily as she sat seething on the steps outside the castle.

Emmeline and Monica both had a hold on her arms, in case Lily decided she had to go and pick a fight with Potter again.

"Can you believe that jerk?" spat Lily, rounding on Monica who winced under Lily's death glare. 

"Well I think he should have figured out by now that you're not interested," said Monica cautiously.

The three girls were silent for a while.

"So were you planning on telling us about Andy?" asked Emmeline, grinning mischievously at Lily who turned pink and quickly became less angry looking.

"Oh I've known him since third year. Since I started Arithmancy," said Lily, a dreamy look appearing on her face, "I always thought he was cute, but just this year we had seats next to each other so now… oh he's so wonderful!"

"Why didn't you tell us earlier? Why at the end of term?" squeaked Monica excitedly.

"Well, because he only asked me out a few days ago after our Arithmancy O.W.L," said Lily, blushing. "I told him I'd love to and so we're going to be seeing each other next year when term starts again!"

Lily's face fell and she frowned slightly. "But what if he meets someone else over the summer? Someone who's prettier, more interesting and fun and smart…"

"Lily!" said Emmeline, cutting her friend off. "He seems to truly like you! He wouldn't do that!"

"And if does he's not worth your time," added Monica.

"Thanks," said Lily, smiling as she gave each of her friends a big hug. "I needed that."

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"She's, she's dating someone?!" said James frantically, struggling against the grip Sirius and Remus had on his shoulders.

"Prongs!" said Sirius tiredl., "You knew this would happen someday since she keeps refusing to go out with you!"

"But, but why?" said James, burying his head in his hands. "Why can't it be me? Or why can't I get over her?"

"I don't know mate," said Peter, peering at James. "But maybe you should just let Lily be happy."

"You can't force her to like you Prongs," said Remus gently. "Maybe you should just step off now that she's with Andy."

"Yeah maybe," said James in a dazed voice. "I don't know if I can though."

"Well avoiding her might help," piped up Peter.

"And what better way to do that then to got out of the country for the summer holiday?" said Sirius brightly.

"You're all right, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot," said James, sighing. "We'll be in the south of France for the summer. Away from… her."


	5. End of Term Finally Arrives

**Disclaimer**- Stop looking at me like that! I've told you it's not mine!!!

**Authoress' Note-** This is a very crappily short crappily boring chapter and I suppose I could combined this chapter and the next one, but then that means I have to upload all the other chapters to change the headings and you know how long that will take??? Very long. **E.D.J.**

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**Ch. 5- End of Term Finally Arrives**

"Oh you're finally done!" squealed Emmeline later that afternoon when she saw Hestia stumble tiredly into the girls' dormitory, her long black hair limp and straggly.

The other three girls were packing to leave Hogwarts the next morning.

"Lily!" said Hestia in a pleading voice. "Tell me I never have to go to that evil class Muggle Studies again!"

"You never have to go to that evil class Muggle Studies again," repeated Lily.

"Thank you!" said Hestia collapsing onto her bed. "By the way, the Muggle Studies O.W.L,. couldn't have gone worse."

"Why?" asked Monica as she packed spell books into her already overflowing trunk.

"I couldn't remember what electricity was or what a telephone does or anything!" moaned Hestia. "I better not marry a Muggle. I'd be a wreck!"

Hestia sat ranting and raving for a few minutes until Emmeline stuffed an old sock in her mouth. Hestia gagged and spit the sock back at Emmeline.

"Come on! Start packing!" said Lily sternly throwing some battered quills at Hestia. "We leave for your house in France tomorrow!"

"Fine," said Hestia sighing as she sat up. "So what were you three doing while I was being beaten over the head with questions about Muggle appliances?"

"We sat by the lake," said Lily shortly not looking up.

Emmeline smirked and added, "And Potter and his friends sat with us and then Lily's Arithmancy boyfriend..."

"Andy?" Hestia cut in.

"How do you know about him?" said Monica accusingly. "We didn't find out till this morning!"

"I have Arithmancy with both of them!" said Hestia exasperated. "I was there when he asked her out!"

"Anyway," said Emmeline tiredly. "Andy came and sat down with us and Potter was kind of rude to him. Then Andy left and Lily and Potter got into a huge row and Monica, Lupin, Pettigrew, Black, and I had to drag them both away before they killed each other."

"Rowing with Potter?" said Hestia glancing at Lily who avoided Hestia's gaze. "Why am I not surprised?"

"He started it!" said Lily hotly. "He was being all jealous and arrogant and... arrgh!!!"

Lily buried her head in her pillow groaning loudly.

"Ok Lils," said Hestia soothingly. "You don't have to talk about it."

Monica glanced at the clock."Merlin! We're late for the end of term feast!"

The four girls rushed down the dormitory staircase, out of the common room, and down many flights of stairs to the Great Hall.

"Made it!" said Emmeline clutching a stitch in her side as the four girls collapsed into chairs at the Gryffindor table.

"Longbottom!" called a gruff voice from down the table.

"What Black?" shouted Monica and Sirius strode over and hunched himself down beside her chair.

"Don't let both you-know-whos near each other. He's still pretty hot-headed," Sirius muttered in Monica's ear.

"She's ready to burst too," Monica whispered back. "I think the summer holiday away from each other will help them cool off."

"Welcome students to the end of term feast!" boomed Professor Dumbledore and Sirius jumped and skittered back to his seat. "I am proud to present the House Cup to Gryffindor for the fifth year in a row!"

Loud cheers sounded from the Gryffindor table as Dumbledore flicked his wand causing scarlet and gold decorations to appear all around the Great Hall.

"I would like to thank you all for an interesting year! Empty your heads over the summer!" said Dumbledore with a slight smile. "Tuck in!"

The golden plates on the tables filled themselves with food and all the students ate to their hearts' content.

"I'm so glad we don't' have to say goodbye!" said Hestia as she ate. "Oh this summer will be so brilliant!"

"This summer will be just us four Marauders!" said James brightly at the other end of the Gryffindor table. "No bloody teachers, no Slytherins, no Snivellus, no Evans!"

"Your parents will be there," Sirius reminded him.

"Yeah, but they'll leave us alone if we ask them to," said James absently staring down the table where Andy Worchester was giving Lily a kiss on the cheek his stomach churning.

"I'll see you in September then," said Andy sadly. "I'll miss you. Write me?"

"Of course I will," said Lily quietly. "Where will you be all summer?"

"I'm going to visit my Australian cousins for most of the summer. What about you?" said Andy.

"I'm staying at Hestia's house in southern France!" squealed Lily kissing his cheek as she noticed Emmeline motioning to her that their friends were leaving the Great Hall. "I have to go! I'll miss you!"

Lily hurried over to her friends and they hurried up to their dormitory so they could finish packing and go to bed.


	6. Wake Up Calls

**Disclaimer**- Yeah...not mine.

**Authoress' Note-** Yeah I don't know what happened to this chapter, but somehow chapter 4 got posted as chapter 6 too! (scratches head) Oh well. I was tired when I reposted it!** E.D.J.******

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**Ch. 6 Wake Up Calls**

"Monica! Hestia! Get up!" shouted Emmeline and Lily pulling blankets off their two sleeping friends.

"Mwa!" moaned Monica, her cloud of blonde hair sticking up everywhere as she reached for her missing blankets without even opening her eyes.

Hestia sat up, her sleek black hair messy, and yawned.

"Monica!" screeched Lily shaking her friend who ignored her and continued sleeping.

"I know what will work!" said Hestia her eyes glittering mischievously as she leaned down by Monica's ear.

She smiled wickedly and shouted, "Mon! Your brother Frank says that if you don't get up, he'll tell your parents all about when he caught you snogging your neighbor Amos Diggory!"

"He wouldn't!" said Monica shooting upward her face livid as she ran towards the staircase. "Where is that damn brother of mine? I'll kill him! He promised!"

"False alarm Mon," said Lily giggling as she yanked Monica back into their dormitory.

"You're so evil Hestia!" snarled Monica.

"Fine, if you want to sleep and miss the train then you don't get to come to France!" said Hestia indignantly.

"No! No! Sorry!" said Monica rushing to her trunk and flinging clothes everywhere. "See? I'm up!"

"Come on! We have to eat before we take the carriages to Hogsmeade station!" urged Lily. "Everyone get dressed!"

"Always the bossy drill instructor aren't ya?" said Emmeline yawning.

"Hey it works!" smirked Lily throwing her pillow at Emmeline.

* * *

"Padfoot! Prongs! Come on!" moaned Peter and Remus as they swatted their sleeping friends with their pillows.

"I know we were out at the Shrieking Shack all night, but the train leaves in two hours!" complained Remus elbowing Sirius in the face, which had absolutely no effect at all.

"Uh... Prongs? Snivellus says you're a Gryffindor idiot and... yeah!" said Peter struggling to think of a good insult to wake James.

"Let me," said Remus grinning evilly.

"PRONGS! Lily Evans says she wants to snog you in the common room before we leave for the summer holiday!" Remus shouted very close to James' ear.

"What?! Really Moony?!" said James leaping up and running down the stairs toward the common room.

"I'll get him," sighed Peter running after James.

Remus cleared his throat and bellowed, "PADFOOT! Monica Longbottom says she wants to snog you right now, so she'll be able to make it through the summer without you!"

"Where?" asked Sirius jumping up and whirling around blearily.

"False alarm Padfoot," said James sullenly as Peter dragged him back into the dormitory.

"Worked like a charm though didn't it?" said Remus cheekily and Peter laughed loudly.

"Moony we're really going to make you pay!" shouted James and he and Sirius lunged at Remus.

"Come on!" moaned Remus as James barreled into his stomach."I'm still sore from transforming yesterday!"

"Well you should have thought of that before you messed with our minds!" snarled Sirius grabbing Remus by the arms

"Guys wait! Food in the Great Hall! Come on!" shouted Peter running down the stairs.

"Food!" shouted Sirius and James forgetting about killing Remus and quickly changing into clean clothes before running down the stairs.

Remus quickly followed and the four Marauders sprinted down to the Great Hall to fill their rumbling stomachs.

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Boys you gotta love 'em. Their two main concerns- girls and food! **E.D.J.**


	7. The Chocolate Frog War

**Disclaimer-**Is it my name on the books???? I didn't think so.

**Authoress' Note-**Why isn't this getting more reviews?? (Elladora glares evilly at reader audience) Please review! I know it's taken awhile for them to actually get to France, but I have the next chapter already written and in Ch.9 they are finally there! Please review it makes me happy!!!!!!! And this is a nice sized chapter too! **E.D.J.**

**P.S.-** If anyone knows any good Ron/Hermione fanfics please add them to your review. Preferably Romance/Humor ones. Or at least ones that are funny.

**Thank you's!**

**Professor D.S. Silvers**- Glad you thought it was funny!

**AngelofTears**-Don't explode from suspense!!!

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**Ch. 7 The Chocolate Frogs War**

"Here's a compartment!" called Hestia as she entered the very last car of the Hogwarts Express.

"I can't believe we're so late!" moaned Lily sitting down.

"Who cares?" said Monica leaning back in her seat. "We're here aren't we?"

Lily sighed audibly as the train slowly began to move.

The girls chatted about France a bit when suddenly there was a loud knock on the compartment door.

Remus Lupin poked his head in and asked politely, "Do you mind if the four of us join you? The rest of the compartments are already full."

"No you can't!" said Lily horrified at the thought of having to share a compartment with James "All Girls Drool at My Feet" Potter. "You can sit in the hallway!"

"Oh don't be mean Lils!" said Hestia rolling her eyes."Sure Remus, half of this compartment is empty, come on in!"

Remus slid the door open and he, James, Sirius, and Peter lugged their trunks in and sat down.

"This is quite tight," Sirius commented as he noticed he was nearly sitting on top of Emmeline.

"Just be glad Lily didn't leave you out in the hall!" snapped Monica.

"Alright I'm glad Lily didn't leave me out in the hall," repeated Sirius. "Now can someone please move? I'm dying here!"

"Whine to someone who cares Padfoot," muttered James staring at his hands determined not to look at Lily.

"Ok does anyone care about Sirius' comfort level?" asked Peter glancing around.

No one raised his or her hand.

"I fell so unloved!" complained Sirius his eyes bright with (completely fake) unshed tears.

"Oh give it a rest Black!" snapped Monica throwing a copy of Witch Weekly at him.

"Oh touchy," observed Sirius. "I wouldn't mind be loved by you Mon!"

He scooted closer to Monica.

"I feel so honored," said Monica sarcastically. "Geroff Black!"

She shoved Sirius away from her and he backed off looking forlorn.

"Rejection, it hurts," stated Remus with a slight smile.

"Where are you guys going for holiday?" asked Emmeline eager for a subject change.

Well..." began Peter.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" asked the witch with the food cart as she opened the compartment door.

"Food!" called the four boys rummaging through their pockets and trunks for some gold.

The girls were more subdued quietly taking out some coins and paying for their candy.

Once the witch had left, she had much less candy and a great deal more gold.

"Bung me a Chocolate Frog, Peter," said James, his mouth full of Pumpkin Pasty, quite forgetting about feeling miserable over Lily's newfound boyfriend since he was now full of candy.

"You have your own Frogs!" said Peter in annoyance.

"But I ate them already!"

"Well you can't have any of mine!"

"Aw come on Petie!"

"Don't call me Petie!"

Bertie Bott's Beans flew everywhere as Peter squeezed the bag a bit too hard as he glared at James angrily.

"Petie, Petie, Petie, I want some Chocolate Frogs!"

"Oh here you idiot!" said Lily throwing one of her own Frogs at James' head. "Now shut up!"

James looked taken aback as the Frog bounced off his head and he caught it in his open hands. He stared at Lily looking thoroughly confused.

"What?" she asked exasperated. "Open wrapper, eat Chocolate Frog, look at card. Is it really that damn difficult Potter?"

James mumbled something incoherent and popped the Frog into his mouth. He glanced absently at the card and choked on the half-chewed Frog spraying bits of chocolate onto the compartment floor.

Everyone stared at Lily who said defensively, "What? I didn't poison it or anything! It's not my fault if he can't chew properly!"

James had since stopped hacking and coughing (with the help of a few smacks on the back from Sirius) and said hoarsely, "Evans didn't do anything to it. It's the card. It's Crispin Cronk."

He held up the card and grinned sheepishly, "I've been looking everywhere for it and I was surprised when I saw I'd gotten it."

James nodded to Lily and said, "Thanks Evans!"

"I just wanted to shut you up," replied Lily.

"Well anyway, thanks."

James stared absently at his newly acquired Crispin Cronk Chocolate Frog Card as the train sped on.

* * *

"Anyone for Exploding Snap?" Sirius asked several hours later removing his face from the rain-spattered windowpane. 

No one replied and Sirius resumed smashing his head against the window in an effort to make the raindrops on the glass move.

"For the love of Merlin, would you stop?" shrieked Emmeline after everyone had endured another twenty minutes of loud head banging.

"Not unless someone finds a better way to entertain me," Sirius said between bangs.

Eventually, unable to stand it any longer, the four girls decided to walk around the train for a bit.

"We could tie Wormtail to the luggage rack," James suggested after the girls were well out of earshot.

He knew the girls would never stand for their little tricks on Peter. They all had a soft spot for the little guy and hated when James and Sirius teased him.

"No..." protested Peter inching himself back in his seat away from James.

"I agree Jamesie. That should entertain me for a few minutes." Sirius grinned evilly.

Both James and Sirius charged at Peter and proceeded to chase him a number of times around the compartment.

Remus glanced up from his book for a moment, sighed, and then continued reading.

James finally got Peter with the Full-Body Bind and he and Sirius pushed and shoved until Peter was up on the luggage rack.

"I guess tying him to it really isn't necessary," commented Sirius. "Since he can't move anyway."

James quickly added a final touch by changing Peter's hair to a shocking neon green before he sat down satisfied.

About a half hour later, the girls trudged back into the compartment and were delighted to find that Sirius had ceased banging his head against the windows.

"Figure your brain's damaged enough as it is?" sneered Monica sitting down.

"No, just found a better way to entertain myself," said Sirius vaguely.

"Hey, where's Pet...!" Lily shrieked loudly and the other three girls looked up and saw Peter stuck on top of the luggage rack.

"How could you do that? He's supposed to be your friend!" said Hestia angrily as she levitated Peter down off the luggage rack.

Emmeline muttered the countercurse to the Full-Body Bind and Peter stood up his limbs trembling.

"I'm alright," he said shakily waving his wand to restore his hair to its normal color. "James and Sirius were just having a bit of fun. I wasn't stuck up there long."

"I should have known you were part of it!" shrieked Lily rounding on James and he cowered when he saw the dangerous glint in her green eyes.

"Why do you think hurting other people, even your best friends, is entertaining?" she asked indignantly.

James mumbled something under his breath and Lily sighed and sat down her eyes fixed on the rain splattering against the window.

She was mumbling "conceited, arrogant, low-life" under her breath as the train slowly came to a stop.

"Bye girls!" Remus said politely as the four boys headed off toward their talking parents (minus, of course, Sirius' parents who wouldn't give any number of Galleons to be seen talking with "those" kinds of people).

The girls muttered a soft "bye" as they trudged gratefully over to their parents.

"Mum! Dad!" shrieked Lily hugging her parents. "How are you? And Petunia?"

"We're fine," said her mother, Nancy Evans. "Petunia's still dating Vernon. Unfortunately. We met his parents and sister and they were just awful!"

Lily laughed hugging her mother again before saying, "Oh Mum, Dad! Forgive me! These are my friends Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, and Monica Longbottom."

She pointed to each of her friends in turn.

"Glad to meet the ladies who keep our Lily in line," said Mr. Henry Evans shaking all of the girls' hands.

"Oh it's Lily who keeps us in line Mr. Evans," said Emmeline with a grin at Lily. "She _is_ the prefect out of the four of us."

"And she does her job very well," added Hestia and both of Lily's parents looking quite relieved.

"Girls we'd better get going!" called Mrs. Patrice Jones. "Hestia, does everyone have their things?"

Hestia nodded and her father, Mr. Edward Jones, said, "We'll be going to Diagon Alley first and then you can Floo to the house."

Lily, Monica, and Emmeline all hugged their parents goodbye and walked eagerly after Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

Once they were out of Platform 9 ¾ and into Kings Cross Station, Lily and Emmeline, whose mother was a Muggle, helped flag down a cab to take them to the area of London where Diagon Alley was hidden.

Once they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Mrs. Jones pulled a small container of glittering powder from her purse giving all four of the girls a handful.

"Our home is Number 93 Azure Drive," said Mr. Jones. "We'll be apparating home in a few hours."

After Emmeline and Hestia had disappeared, Lily threw her handful of powder on the fire and the flames turned a bright green. Lily stepped into the fire and cried, "Number 93 Azure Drive!"

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**Review, review, review, review, review! And just it case you haven't gotten the point here's a sneak peek of Ch. 9! If you REVIEW it will be put up faster! Thanks! E.D.J.**

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"James dear? I've just noticed the Joneses have arrived too. I thought it would be nice if we invited them to dinner tonight. Would you boys please go over and ask?"

James muttered "_Sonorus_!" and his voice was suddenly much louder.

"Alright mum. We'll go right now."

"_Quietus_!" he said waving his wand.

"The Joneses?" asked Peter.

"You don't mean…" Sirius looked utterly horrified.

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**And a second sneak peek too! I'm so nice! E.D.J.**

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"Are you alright Hestia?" asked Emmeline making to go over to her, but Hestia held up a hand stopping her.

"Did I mention that James Potter's family always holidays right next-door?"

"What?! No you didn't mention that!" shrieked Lily her face pale as she stared at Hestia horrified.

"Hestia! He can't be staying there for the summer!"

"Well he is." Hestia's hands were shaking. "And it looks as if he's brought his fellow Marauders this year."

**Dun, dun, duuuuuuuu... Review! E.D.J.**


	8. Welcome Holidaymakers!

**Disclaimer-**I don't own it. DO YOU???????

**A/N-**Hello! Sorry about the messed up chapter numbers at the beginnings of the chapters! I thought I fixed them, but apparently not and I'm too lazy right now to go back and fix it right away so just go by the clicky chapter thingy to figure out what # the chapter is? Kay? Ok well guess what? The Marauders and Lily and her friends are finally in France! Yay! Review! Too many exclamation marks! Yay! **E.D.J.**

**And the special thanks to reviewers section!!!!**

**La Conquistadora-** Yay more reviews!

**KLLRS-**Oh no! Not the natural oils!!!

**Professor Drusilla S. Silvers-** Yeah Remus is awesome!

**anniePADFOOT-**I'm glad you think Lily's not perfect. I think in this story she's kind of obsessive, orderly, and a bit bossy so not perfect.

**Ketchup Chip-**Yeah I feel a bit sorry for Peter, but not very much.

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**Ch. 8- Welcome Holidaymakers!**

_Once they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Mrs. Jones pulled a small container of glittering powder from her purse giving all four of the girls a handful._

"_Our home is Number 93 Azure Drive," said Mr. Jones. "We'll be apparating home in a few hours."_

_After Emmeline and Hestia had disappeared, Lily threw her handful of powder on the fire and the flames turned a bright green. Lily stepped into the fire and cried, "Number 93 Azure Drive!"_

She spun dizzily until she fell onto cold hard brick. Lily scrambled up and over to where Emmeline and Hestia were standing just as Monica appeared out of the fire.

"Ow!" said Monica as she landed very hard on her knees.

"Welcome Mademoiselles," said a smoky voice and the girls whirled around a saw a slender witch with dark brown eyes and obviously dyed red curls.

"This is our housekeeper Angeline," said Hestia and then she rapidly began speaking in French with the red-haired witch.

"Zis way please," said Angeline and the girls followed her through the cavernous house gaping at the numerous lavishly decorated rooms (Well Hestia wasn't gaping because it was, in fact, her own house).

Angeline was very chatty saying things like, "Mademoiselles you like 'ogwarts no? I went to Beauxbatons not long ago and it is so wonderful zer. I miss it vairy much." and "Your hair is vairy much like mine. You are Lily are you not?"

"Er... yeah. How'd you know?" asked Lily uncomfortably thinking that her hair looked much better than Angeline's since the fact was that Lily's hair was _naturally_ red.

"Mademoiselle Jones gave me a description of 'er friends before you came 'ere," replied Angeline.

"Ah 'ere we are!"

She pushed open a white door into a comfy sitting room complete with large bay windows looking out on the ocean.

"We're fine now. Thanks Angeline," said Hestia.

Angeline nodded and left the room.

"Blimey Hestia! You're loaded!" squeaked Monica staring out the window.

"Yeah it's dead useful isn't it?" said Hestia lightly. "Do you want to see your rooms?"

She pointed to three doors leading off of the sitting room and said smirking, "Go nuts! Claim a room girls!"

All three of her friends scrambled up and with only "minor" fighting figured out who was staying where.

While the other girls inspected their bedrooms, Hestia called Angeline back and asked her to magick their trunks up the stairs.

Angeline cried, "_Locomotor trunks_!" and all of their things flew up the stairs and she directed them into the appropriate rooms before disappearing again.

"Look at the size of the bloody closets!" shrieked Emmeline running from room to room.

Lily came out of her room and hugged Hestia asking, "How the hell do you find anything in this place?"

Hestia grinned. "Well after coming here every summer since I was five you kind of learn your way around."

Hestia said something about getting refreshments and Lily sighed happily.

"Glad to be rid of our Marauder schoolmates?" asked Emmeline as she and Monica sat down across from Lily.

"Most definitely!" chorused both Monica and Lily gladly taking bottles of Butterbeer from Hestia who disappeared to find a few more bottles.

Lily smiled and raised her bottle. "To a Potter-free summer!"

"To a Black-free summer!" added Monica.

"How about just a Marauder-free summer?" suggested Emmeline.

They all laughed and Monica and Lily clinked their bottles together toasting the occasion.

* * *

"Bugger! Didn't anyone think of making cushioned fireplaces?" moaned Sirius as his head slammed against hard brick.

"Why don't you invent that if you're such a genius, Padfoot?" said Remus absently brushing soot out of his hair.

"Hello boys!" cried a plump woman with graying hair who had just entered the room.

"Wotcher Mrs. Livingston!" declared Sirius recognizing the Potters' housekeeper and grinning charmingly at her.

"How wonderful to see you Sirius! Still the ladies' man are we?" said Mrs. Livingston raising her eyebrows as he hugged her just like he always did when he came to visit the Potters.

"And James! You look more like your father every day!" she exclaimed enveloping James in a hug.

"Remus! All those Quidditch practices are paying off! And I hear you're the prefect of this bunch!"

Remus turned slightly pink as he hugged Mrs. Livingston.

"Peter! Still as handsome as ever!" (Pause for a moment while all readers and authoress gag and vomit spectacularly all over their computer screens.

The short boy's ears turned bright red.

"Anything I can get you dears?" asked Mrs. Livingston after warmly greeting Mr. Jonathan Potter and Mrs. Arleen Potter.

"Butterbeer would be nice," said James. "We'll be upstairs."

James led his friends up to the rooms they'd be using while Sirius, Remus, and Peter dragging their trunks and things behind them.

"Make yourselves at home." James plopped himself down on a couch.

The other three boys put their things into the rooms they'd be using for the summer before collapsing into chairs next to James.

They chatted about Quidditch and the like a bit. Then suddenly, a magically magnified voice filled the air.

"James dear? I've just noticed the Joneses have arrived too. I thought it would be nice if we invited them to dinner tonight. Would you boys please go over and ask?"

James muttered "_Sonorus_!" and his voice was suddenly much louder.

"Alright mum. We'll go right now."

"_Quietus_!" he said waving his wand.

"The Joneses?" asked Peter.

"You don't mean..." Sirius looked utterly horrified.

"Yes, Hestia Jones' family lives right next to us," said James wincing slightly at his friends' terrified faces. "Our families are quite good friends. Hestia's just as nice as she is at school though she does tell me off about us annoying Evans and Longbottom unlike at school."

"Oh this will be brilliant fun," groaned Sirius. "I get to be told off! What a holiday treat!"

"Oh come on," James protested, "Hestia's the least of our worries among that group of girls."

His thoughts jumped back to Lily Evans and grimaced.

"Well let's get it over and done with," said Peter standing up.

The four boys trudged out of the house, across the sand, and up the steps of the large house situated next to the Potters'.

"I hate you rich brats," commented Remus gaping up at the Jones' home.

James punched the doorbell with a finger and loud ringing filled the air.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lily, Monica, Hestia, and Emmeline were coming down the stairs to get a tour of the lower part of the house.

The doorbell sounded and Hestia yelled "I'll get it!" before walking over and glancing absently out the front windows.

She gave a ragged gasp and her face was white as she quickly turned to face her friends.

"Are you alright Hestia?" asked Emmeline making to go over to her, but Hestia held up a hand stopping her.

"Did I mention that James Potter's family always holidays right next-door?"

"What?! No you didn't mention that!" shrieked Lily her face pale as she stared at Hestia horrified.

"Hestia! He can't be staying there for the summer!"

"Well he is." Hestia's hands were shaking. "And it looks as if he's brought his fellow Marauders this year."

"No" yelped Monica and Emmeline.

"Not them too!"

"Potter's bad enough!"

"A whole summer with them?!"

"They're out there aren't they?" said Lily her voice trembling as she pointed at the door.

"I'm afraid so." Hestia replied.

"Ok just get it over with. Open the door," stated Lily looking as if she'd rather feed herself to a Norwegian Ridgeback than face who was on the other side of the door.

All four girls trembled visibly as they assembled near the door.

Hestia gripped the handle and the door slid open silently.

"Hey Hest... Bloody hell no!"

"All four of them HERE!"

"I MUST be having a nightmare! Wake up! Wake up!"

"This is going to be the worst holiday of my life!"

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**Ooh cliffie! You will find out who says the last four lines in Chapter 9 so review so you can find out! Yay! The conflicts that will come from Lily and James having to spend so much time together! Tee hee! E.D.J.**


	9. Part One Survival Plans and Summer Goals

**Disclaimer**-I created it all!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No wait. That's not true. I just wanted to see what it would feel like to be J.K. Rowling for a minute. It was fun! But yeah I'm not her, so it's not mine.

**Authoress' Note**-Yeah, yeah I know, I left you with a cliffie and then rudely didn't update right away. But this chapter is pretty long so hopefully it makes up for the lateness. Anyway the boys' POV in this chappie is so much funnier than the girls' so anyway the guys' part it is longer because they are funnier. Please review because my writing machine is powered by them! If I get no reviews, than my little house-elves have to power the machine and do you want to those poor creatures being severely overworked on your conscience?? I think not so review!!!! **E.D.J.**

**Thanks to my lovely reviewers!**

**La Conquistadora**-I'm afraid you probably dislike me more for not updating after that cliffie too huh?

**anniePADFOOT**-Yeah I wish I didn't have to be nice to Peter, but I really don't think it's realistic to have every character beating him up when he hasn't done anything wrong. YET.

**blinkgurl017-**Yay! My favorite Seven Years of Marauding reviewer! Thanks for reviewing this story too!

**Professor D. S. Silvers-**Remus is the king of funny comments and sarcasm!

**harrylissaluv**-Yay thanks for reviewing!

**me**-Are you me as in Elladora me or me as in someone else me? I am so confused!! Anyway I'm so glad you're liking this story!

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**Ch. 9-Dinner at the Potters' Part One-Survival Plans and Summer Goals**

All four boys stood idly as the Jones' front door slid open.

"Hey Hest..." began James recognizing his schoolmate. Then he glanced past Hestia and saw who was standing behind her.

"Bloody hell no!" he yelled jumping backwards and knocking into Sirius.

Sirius yelped and moved away from James rubbing his injured shoulder.

He looked up at the doorway and swore loudly saying, "All four of them HERE!"

Sirius rubbed his eyes muttering, "I MUST be having a nightmare! Wake up! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes. The girls were still standing there with very annoyed looks expressions on their faces.

Sirius groaned and slumped to the ground swearing colorfully under his breath as Monica met his eyes and gave him a venomous glare. Sirius glared back and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Childish prick," Monica muttered.

"She's one to talk," thought Hestia listening to Monica continue to taunt Sirius in what could only be described as an immature way.

Lily and James were also staring at each other in a way that nearly mirrored Monica and Sirius. Utter contempt showed on both their faces. Both of them fingered their wands as if trying to keep from cursing each other.

The other four were gaping, but no evil looks were exchanged between the four of them.

"This is going to be the worst holiday of my life!" Lily, Monica, James, and Sirius moaned simultaneously.

"You can say that again," Hestia muttered feeling anger begin to bubble inside her.

"Well it's going to be no picnic for the rest of us, but you don't here us complaining!" commented Remus to no one in particular.

"I'd stay out of this if I were you Remus," hissed Peter. "They might all turn on us, the sane ones, and then where would we be?"

"Exactly," muttered Emmeline inching around an arguing Lily and James to stand by Remus and Peter. "We don't know what they might do to us if we interfere."

"Well we've got to do something!" urged Remus glancing at Sirius and James' red faces. "Look at them!"

Everyone went on sputtering and shouting for a while.

"Why does it have to be you Potter?!"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Can everyone just calm down?"

"SHUT IT PETER!"

"Hey he was just trying help!"

"Emmeline, you stay out of this!"

"Wow bite her head off why don't you?"

"Moony this doesn't concern you!"

"Doesn't concern me Padfoot?! I'm the one who's going to have to spend the whole bloody summer listening to you four fight!"

"Well maybe if he wasn't such a huge arse, you could have your peace and quiet!"

Finally, completely fed up, Hestia (the only sane, calm person in the group by then) shouted, "Enough! You're giving me a headache!"

She brandished her wand furiously.

Everyone instantly quieted and muttered, "Sorry Hestia."

They all knew better than to get Hestia Jones angry. Last year, she'd turned a cheeky group of second-years into a bunch of scarab beetles after they unwittingly annoyed her while she was studying for her O.W.L.s. Now the whole second-year class was completely terrified of her.

It took a lot to make Hestia mad but when it happened, she was like a volcano erupting meaning everything and everyone ran to somewhere safe when she exploded. No one was safe from her wand.

"That's better," said Hestia coolly. "Now James would you be so kind as to tell us why you've decided to grace us with your presence?"

"Well my mum wishes your family and I suppose your er... 'guests' to attend dinner at our home this evening," said James in the same formal tone Hestia had used as he cast an angry glare at Lily.

"James..." began Hestia warningly.

James was worriedly reminded of an incident two years back when Hestia had magicked a watermelon down his throat after he'd had a blazing row with Evans.

"Big words Potter," cut in Lily her voice icy. "I'm surprise you didn't choke on them. Pity."

"I'll go ask Mum about it then! About dinner!" said Hestia loudly cutting off Lily with an angry look.

Hestia disappeared inside the house leaving the rest of the group to stare daggers at each other.

A few moments passed in tension-filled silence.

"So Mon..." said Sirius casually, "seeing anyone at the moment?"

"Of course! I can see James, Lily, Emmeline, Remus, Peter, me, and you! I'm not blind you know!" snapped Monica deliberately twisting Sirius' question. "I wish I couldn't see you though."

She gritted her teeth and focused on keeping herself from punching Sirius in the face.

"Touché Mon," replied Sirius dryly. "Side-stepped that one didn't we?"

"Clearly," muttered Monica through clenched teeth.

In her mind she grumbled, "Never hit a guy. Never hit a guy. He'll never be able to live it down and that will just make _your_ life hell."

Remus, Emmeline, and Peter glanced at each other and sighed loudly figuring they'd listen to Lily and James' argue for a slight change.

"Did Hestia only bring you three with her? No wonderful Andy?" spat James his eyes dangerously bright.

"Would it matter if we _did_ bring him?" Lily retorted.

"Of course not! I was just thinking that if _he_ was here, your holiday would be much more enjoyable!"

"I am perfectly capable of enjoying myself without my boyfriend here! Though I would be ECSTATIC if James 'If My Head Got Any Bigger It Would Explode' Potter wasn't here!" Lily breathed heavily and stared bitterly at James waiting for his retort.

James paused taken aback. He hadn't realized that Andy was Lily's BOYFRIEND.

He _had_ realized that they were involved romantically. Any idiot could realize that (meaning Sirius or even perhaps Peter). But he hadn't connected it with that specific term until now. James' stomach gave an uneasy lurch at the thought.

"Whatever Evans," he said gruffly just as Hestia reappeared tapping her foot impatiently.

"Mum says we'll be over at 6:00. See you then."

Hestia whirled around and the girls went back inside while Monica slammed the door in the Marauders' faces with a satisfied smirk.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier Hestia?" shrieked Lily throwing herself at the sofa. "Before we agreed to spend the whole damn summer here!" 

"I didn't know he'd be bringing the rest of them!" said Hestia hotly. "I thought it would just be Potter as usual and I assumed he'd leave us alone most of the time!"

"Really? Would Potter ever just leave ME alone?" Lily shot back.

"But honestly. All four of them HERE?" groaned Monica. "We won't get a moment's peace with them pulling pranks on us and Potter and Black being... themselves!"

"Nice example there Mon," muttered Lily.

"Maybe we can avoid each other," suggested Emmeline.

She turned to Hestia and asked, "Do many people holiday around here?"

"Yes, but our whole area of beach is private property owned by my family and the Potters'!" replied Hestia wincing. "That means we WILL be the only ones on the beach!"

"Well we'll just have to live inside then!" screeched Lily. "It's better than having to spend the whole summer outside with Potter and his damn mates!"

"Please tell me your families are only acquaintances," breathed Monica. "People who only spent time with each other once or twice during the summer holiday?"

"No," said Hestia in a small voice. "We eat dinner with them four to five times a week."

Monica swore violently until Emmeline had the sense to clamp her hand over her friend's mouth.

"No! I can't do this!" said Lily in shrill voice. "He'll...he'll...be James Potter!" she finished lamely.

"SEE you can't think of an example either!"

"Shut it Longbottom."

"Oh you shut it Evans!"

"Is it just me or are they starting to sound just like Potter and Black?"

"No it's not just you Em. I noticed it too."

"Oh good."

Monica began rocking back and forth muttering, "I'm going to kill him. I can't spend a whole summer with _him_!"

"She knows she'll end up in Azkaban if she kills Sirius right?" commented Emmeline.

Hestia nodded. "But if Black _is_ 'out of the picture' that certainly makes things less complicated for us," she added cynically.

"Can we include Potter in that 'out of the picture' idea?" said Lily looking around her warily.

Emmeline had had enough.

"NO! We are not going to kill Black! We are not going to kill Potter! We are not going to kill Lupin, Pettigrew, or bloody Father Christmas! Alright? We aren't going to do anything!" shrieked Emmeline before she burst into tears and ran into the bathroom.

"You can't act like this! Not like bloody murders-to-be! I can't take it!" Emmeline sobbed through the bathroom door.

Hestia went over and opened the bathroom door and quietly began trying to comfort Emmeline.

"She's right. We can't do this to Em. She'll be a wreck all summer," began Lily. She gulped. "We'll just have to try to be _civil_ with them."

Monica snorted loudly into her pillow before glancing up and noticing that Lily was serious.

"Oh alright. I'll try."

* * *

"If I had a place to go, you know where I'd be? _There_ not _here_! Anywhere but _here_!" snarled Sirius pacing up and down the boys' long hallway. 

"How am I going to get over her with her here all summer?!"

James sat with his head in his hands muttering to himself and looking severely crazed.

Remus and Peter knew they had two near nervous breakdowns on their hands and they glanced anxiously back in forth from James, to Sirius, to each other.

"Well look on the bright side..." began Peter.

"WHAT BRIGHT SIDE, WORMTAIL?! I SEE NO BRIGHT SIDE! PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME!" Sirius bellowed.

"Jeez, bite my head off why don't you?" snapped Peter. "Now as I was saying, look on the bright side. Maybe this summer will finally be the one where you snare the lovely Monica Longbottom. Did you ever consider that Padfoot?"

Remus nodded. "You have a whole summer to spend time with her. Maybe she'll finally realize you're not just an arrogant little berk."

"Thanks Moony," Sirius muttered sarcastically. "Why would this summer be any different?"

"Because this summer you'll stop _acting_ like an arrogant little berk," Remus replied.

"Yeah... if I stop doing all the things that annoy her maybe she'll realize the handsome devil I truly am!" said Sirius happily.

"You might want to tone down the ego a bit too, Padfoot."

"Shut it Wormtail."

"Just trying to help Padfoot."

"Hello? None of this is helping me with my problem!" shouted James and his three friends jumped noticing the distraught look on their friend's face.

"Well, Lily's got a boyfriend, so you should just try and back off like we said before. Try to be friends with her," Remus stated slowly.

"Friends," James said sullenly. "Great."

"Well maybe if you drop some of _your_ annoying habits, Evans will dump that bastard she's dating and realize that _you_ are wonderful Prongsie!" said Sirius thoughtfully.

"Padfoot, you may actually be on to something."

"That's a first."

"Wormtail, do you like that face of yours? Because I'd be happy to rearrange it for you."

"Dually noted Padfoot."

"Ok so I get rid of some of my annoying habits. Like what?"

"Let's see... what's she always calling you on?"

"Being a prat."

"Being a berk."

"Being a git."

"Having an ego bigger than... bigger than A LOT of big things."

"Good analogy there Padfoot."

"I try Moony, I try."

"Asking her out all the time."

"Rumpling your hair."

"Flirting with, dating, and dumping nearly every girl at Hogwarts."

"Bragging about your legions of adoring fans."

"Bragging about your rugged good looks."

"Bragging about your fantastic Quidditch skills."

"Bragging about your brilliantly high marks in school."

"Bragging in general really."

"Very good Wormtail. Very good."

"Is that all?"

"Oh I'm sure we could go on and on Prongsie, but I think we have your basic list. If you wanted a more in depth list, you would probably have to wait a few days because of the field research that would be needed, the rising cost of parchment these days, and..."

"I get it Padfoot. Stop now."

"Ok I have written up a list of Marauder summer goals."

"Blimey Moony we're not in school anymore!"

"Well I thought it would help and most of my ideas are actually useful. Unlike many of yours, Padfoot."

"What's wrong with playing Quidditch on mops instead of broomsticks?"

"No Padfoot. I think the question is 'What's _right_ about playing Quidditch on mops instead of broomsticks?'"

"Who's side are you on Prongsie?"

"Moony's. Obviously."

"I feel utterly deserted. Abandoned in this cruel world..."

"Don't start Padfoot. It's not the time for one of your little 'dramatic' scenes."

"But Wormtail always applauds my good acting!"

"Well Wormtail's an idiot."

"HEY!"

"Anyway back to those goals."

**MARAUDER SUMMER GOALS, BY MR. MOONY**

1)Mr. Padfoot must become more socially presentable, so that he may get Miss Longbottom to go out with him. **_("HEY I'M SOCIALLY PRESENTABLE! MOOOOOOOOONY!"_**)

2)Mr. Prongs must become less prat-like, so that he may get Miss Evans to dump 'Mr. Perfect Ravenclaw' for him, and also so his fellow Marauders don't have to hear him complain all the time about how she rejected him for the thirty-seventh time. **_("You're keeping track? And I don't complain about her all the time!"_**)

3)Mr. Moony must stay exactly as he is and must resist the urge to become an idiot like his fellow Marauders. **_("We're not idiots Moony! You're not allowed to write our lists anymore! You fill them with you're cruel sense of humor!"_**)

4)Mr. Wormtail must develop a thicker skin and a quicker mind, so that his fellow Marauders' insults are not taken personally and so they are understood in a much quicker fashion. **_("Mr. Wormtail must insist that he, Mr. Padfoot, and Mr. Prongs hex Mr. Moony until he is beyond recognition!")_**

5)(has been written by Mr. Prongs because Mr. Moony is currently running around screaming like a girl) Mr. Moony must learn how to dodge jinxes, hexes, and/or curses better. Particularly the Jelly-Legs Jinx.

* * *

**Sorry I must save Mr. Moony from a number of gruesome jinxes, hexes, and/or curses from his fellow Marauders! Reviews make me happy! E.D.J.**


	10. Part Two PreDinner Dilemmas

**Disclaimer**-I'm angry today. It's not mine. Don't piss me off anymore than I already am.

**Authoress' Note**-I am officially pissed off today. First of all, I've been trying to upload this all day, but it keeps telling me is encountering heavy traffic". Seriously how many bloody people are on here on a Monday afternoon?? Also the secret door at J.K. Rowling's website is open today, but I haven't been able to find the bloody lightswitch to get the stuff about Book 6! Grrrr... tells you how to get the clue or whatever on book 6, but it doesn't work for me!!! If anyone else has had this problem or if anyone knows what it says about Book 6 please please review and tell me!! I need something to help brighten this day! **E.D.J.**

**And I only got 3 bloody reviews! Actually I'm not too mad about this one as the other stuff so don't be officially terrified of me kay?**

**blinkgurl017**- Thank you! Someone who agrees with about the last chapter being the best! I loved the list too and I included another one by the fabulous Mr. Moony but I personally like the 1st one better.

**anniePADFOOT**- I love James and Remus being mean to Sirius! (Giggle)

**Professor D.S. Silvers**-I personally am a diehard Chandler fan! Could he _be _any cooler? I love his sarcasm! But they're all good!

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**B.T.W. **This chapter is more about Monica/Sirius than Lily/James! **E.D.J.**

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**Ch. 10-Dinner at the Potters' Part Two- Pre-Dinner Dilemmas**

"What do you wear to a dinner at the home of your arch-nemesis?" asked Lily as she sorted through her suitcase full of clothes. "Particularly if you don't want said nemesis to ask you out even though you have a boyfriend?"

"Oh I used to know that one!" said Hestia sarcastically.

"Very funny Hestia. But seriously what do I wear?"

"Baggy pants and an old sweatshirt?" suggested Emmeline.

"But I don't want to look like a slob at a nice dinner!"

"So you want to dress nice for dinner without looking nice enough for Potter to notice?" asked Monica.

"Yes."

"I can't help you there. I don't think it's physically possible."

"Thanks for the help Mon."

"Anytime."

"Maybe he won't ask you out in front of his parents," said Hestia thoughtfully.

"Well he asked me out in front of _my_ parents at the end of the Christmas holiday, so I don't think that will be much of a road block for him."

"Well you never know."

"Aren't you going to dress down to deter Black?" Lily asked Monica.

"No. I like to watch him squirm."

"You have interesting hobbies, Mon."

"I try Hestia, I try."

"I give up!" moaned Lily throwing herself on top of her bed. "I'll just have to look good!"

"What a tragedy Lils," commented Emmeline as she put on her makeup. "You have to look good! The horror!"

"You're not helping Em."

"Well you're whiny!"

"I second that."

"Monica!"

"I'm just being my very honest self."

"Well it would hurt you to lie every once and a while."

"Alright... lies... You are smitten with James Potter, but Potter only has eyes for the giant squid!"

"Your mind works in mysterious ways," said Hestia rolling her eyes.

"And Hestia is in love with Peter Pettigrew!"

"Oh I could believe that."

"Lily!"

"I'm kidding Hestia!" shouted Lily as Hestia began to beat Lily with her pillow.

Emmeline tried to save Lily to no avail until finally a voice filled the air.

"Are you ready girls? We're leaving in two minutes!"

"Oh bugger!" moaned Lily running to the bathroom to change.

* * *

"How do you make a girl want you when your natural charm doesn't work?" asked Sirius as the four boys got dressed for dinner. 

"Natural charm?" said Remus laughing. "Is that what all those cheesy pick up lines are?"

"Cheesy what now?"

"Pick up lines," finished Remus. "Such as, 'You have the most beautiful/gorgeous/hot/

sexy eyes/hair/body/forehead I could just gaze at you all day/all night/all of class/for the next sixty seconds.' Or my personal favorite, the straight forward 'Wanna snog in that broom closet?' That's real charm!"

"Don't question my methods Moony! Stop laughing! And when have I ever told a girl she had a sexy forehead?"

"October 29th. Hufflepuff. Fourth year. Geena Irving. For some reason she told you that was 'the sweetest thing any guy had ever said to her' and then you snogged her in some broom cupboard for about two and half hours."

"Yeesh Moony! Are you stalking Padfoot?"

"Just because my attention span is longer than five seconds doesn't mean I'm a stalker, Prongs!"

"Who's Geena Irving?"

"Well you knew every little detail..."

"Seriously who is she?"

"That is because Padfoot had to _tell_ me every little detail the next day and unfortunately the images are still haunting me!"

"Cool I'm haunting Moony. And who is Geena bloody Irving?!"

"You're hopeless Padfoot. I'm going to make a list, so I don't have to be annoyed by you three."

"But I haven't been talking at all Moony!"

"Well Wormtail, you're still annoying me."

"Oh."

**Mr. Moony's To-Do List (With Help From His Fellow Marauders)**

(_"No! I'm writing this so I can ignore you three!" "Tough luck there Moony!")_

1) Burn images of Mr. Padfoot and Geena Irving snogging in some cupboard from mind (**_"Oh I think I remember her now! Wasn't she the girl who..." "I'm not listening Padfoot! Stop talking! The images!")_**

2)Unpack trunk (**_"You're so boring Moony! Unpacking!")_**

3)Continue to resist the urge to become an idiot like my fellow Marauders (**_"Moony... remember what happened the last time!" "Oh shove it Wormtail!")_**

4)Help Prongs and Padfoot become acceptable to their dream girls. Note-They must deflate their overly large egos by 193 at least. (**_"Moony my ego is not overly large!" "Right...")_**

5)Resist the urge to laugh if Prongs and Padfoot are rejected by their dream girls (**_"Padfoot?" "Yeah?" "Start sending out some of that 'Moony Blackmail' you keep stored away." "Blackmail? You're going to tell everyone I'm a werewolf?!" "Oh no! We have much worse stuff. Remember Elizabeth Connelly?" "Oh not Liz! Not that girl! You wouldn't!" "On the contrary my dear Moony, we indeed will tell her that you snogged her and her twin sister and then dumped both of them!" "They're identical! I thought Mollie was Liz! They'd ruin my reputation! Please don't!" "Then stop being your bloody evil self!") _**

6)Make sure Prongs and Padfoot don't make fools of themselves at dinner. (**_"See? Was it so hard to write something that doesn't include your rude sense of humor?" "I hate you, Padfoot.")_**

"James? Sirius? Remus? Peter? The Joneses just rang and said they'll be over in two minutes!" boomed a loud voice.

"Thanks Dad! We'll come down!" shouted James.

"Ready guys?" asked Sirius.

"Ready," repeated the others and they made their way down the stairs.

* * *

"I can do this, I can do this," muttered Monica as the girls and Mr. and Mrs. Jones walked across the sand. 

"I can't do this, I can't do this," whispered Lily gripping her wand tightly in her hand.

Emmeline and Hestia exchanged looks and muttered, "They're insane."

"Girls, have you heard that James has a few friends staying with him this summer too?" said Mrs. Jones lightly.

"Yes," they all said shortly.

Mrs. Jones continued on. "James is such a nice boy! I've always thought so. I'm sure his friends are just the same."

Monica suppressed a snort.

"Do you girls know James and his friends well?"

"Yes," the girls nodded unable to keep a few grimaces from their faces.

Luckily Mrs. Jones wasn't looking at them.

"Hestia and James have practically grown up together! I've always thought that he'd be the perfect boy for Hestia."

"Mother!" shrieked Hestia her cheeks pink. "It's James for crying out loud!"

"Besides he's after Lily anyway," commented Emmeline.

"Em!" squeaked Lily.

"Really?" said Mrs. Jones raising her eyebrows. "I'm sure he'd be perfect for you too, Lily dear."

"Oh well I don't think of him that way either," said Lily gritting her teeth while she tried to keep from screaming in horror.

"Well we're here!" said Mr. Jones ringing the Potters' doorbell.

The girls all took deep breaths as the door opened.

"Hello Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones, girls!" said Mrs. Livingston, smiling as she showed them into a small parlor.

"Hestia you're looking prettier than ever!" said Mrs. Livingston giving the girl a warm hug. "And these are your friends?"

She nodded at the other three girls.

"Yes. Mrs. Livingston, this is Monica Longbottom, Emmeline Vance, and Lily Evans."

"Lily Evans?" asked Mrs. Livingston looking Lily over. "Why you're the girl who..."

"Edward! Patrice! It's been awhile!" said Mrs. Potter as she, Mr. Potter, and the four Marauders appeared.

"It's always wonderful to see you and Jonathan, Arleen!" said Mrs. Jones hugging Mrs. Potter and the two fathers shook hands.

"And of course, James!" said Mrs. Jones noticing the four boys.

"Hello Patrice!" said James brightly hugging Hestia's mother while his own mother hugged Hestia.

"Patrice, Edward, these are my good friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew!" said James nodding at his friends.

"And my friends are Monica Longbottom, Emmeline Vance, and Lily Evans," added Hestia.

James snuck a glance at Lily while his parents where smiling and shaking hands with the three girls. She looked beautiful as always. Lily caught him staring at her and she scowled at him and muttered something to Monica who was busy scowling at Sirius.

Ignoring Lily's scowl, he strode over to her.

"Hi Ev...er...Lily," he stammered. "How are you this evening?"

Lily continued to scowl at him. "I was fine until _you_ showed up."

"Well...er...yeah," he said searching for something somewhat intelligent to say.

"Did you want something Pott...James or are just going to stand here muttering?" asked Lily thinking it would be rude to call him Potter in front of his parents.

James felt his heart soar. _She called me James!_

"You called me James!" he said smugly.

"It is your name. Don't read to much into it," she said shrugging knowing where this conversation was going.

"Does that mean you're finally warming up to me?" asked James.

Lily's face turned an angry shade of red in the blink of an eye.

_Oh no! Abort! Abort! _James thought watching her face get redder and redder.

Lily was busy keeping her temper in check, so she wouldn't explode at Potter in front of Hestia and Potters' parents. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

It wasn't working. She could practically feel the angry heat building up inside her mind.

Her hold on her temper was loosening, so she said quickly, "Of course not, you git."

Then, she rushed over and began babbling to Emmeline about Ancient Runes before anything else spilled out.

_Damn it,_ thought James. _I was being a git, prat, and a berk! She just couldn't kill me in front of my parents._

He sighed and sat down defeated for the time being.

* * *

"So Mon, how are you?" asked Sirius flashing her a winning smile as he sat down next to her. 

"Lovely just lovely!" said Monica her face grim.

"So I was wondering..."

Monica scowled and said, "Can we just skip to the part where I tell you to sod off and to never bother me again, Black?"

Sirius laughed. "But perhaps you won't want me to sod off, what then?"

Monica sighed. "Alright what were you wondering?"

"Er..." said Sirius racking his brain for an answer. "I was wondering... when you thought we'd get our O.W.L.s results?"

Monica was taken aback. No sickening charm? No asking her out? Very suspicious. What was his angle?

"Uh... my guess would be mid July?" said Monica warily. "Why do care anyway? I thought your perfect self was above such mediocre concerns like O.W.L.s."

_Oh damn! Did I just say he was perfect?! Ewww... Why am I so daft?_

Monica sat wincing waiting for Black to comment on her saying he was perfect.

Sirius just laughed resisting the urge to add a bit of smugness. "Quite the contrary, Miss Longbottom. I am _very_ concerned about my O.W.L.s."

"Really?" said Monica raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," said Sirius sitting down next to her. "They're what decided my future and I am _very _concerned about my future career."

Monica rolled her eyes. "That's a load of bull and you know it."

"Ok you caught me," said Sirius raising his hands in defeat. "I don't give a damn about the future and I'm only a bit concerned about my future career. I like the here and now."

"I knew it," said Monica smugly. "Though it would have been quite convincing from someone else. Well played."

She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

Sirius stared at her hand. _What is she doing? She's congratulating me on good acting around her? Unless... no! Must resist urge to act smug and prat-like! Must become socially acceptable! Merlin! Moony keeps talking in my head. I must be a right loon._

Sirius grasped her hand and kissed it lightly.

_What the...? _Monica thought.

She quickly pulled her hand away and felt her face go red.

Sirius felt a bubble of triumph inside him when he saw how flustered Monica looked. But he knew he shouldn't do anything else yet, so he acted like nothing had happened.

"What's it like at Hestia's house?" he asked determined to play it cool.

"Er... what?" asked Monica. She had been staring at her hand where he'd kissed it instead of paying attention.

_What is wrong with me? Shouldn't I be angry? Well it was rather nice...no bad, very bad! Did I actually admit that? No that was just some strange person talking. Of course it was._

"What's it like at Hestia's house?" Sirius repeated with a slight smile.

"Uh... big, huge, beautiful," said Monica vaguely.

"I think it's like that with all these huge houses," he said with a chuckle.

"Well isn't your home like that? From what I hear your folks are loaded," said Monica incredulously.

Sirius' face darkened. "Well big and huge, yes. But beautiful? No. I don't think a house filled with the Dark Arts and insane pure-bloods can be beautiful."

"I'm sorry," said Monica patting his arm. "I know you're not like that."

_What? I feel sorry for him!_ Monica moaned at the voice that was disgusted that she had touched him.

Sirius grinned feeling her touch. "Yeah, I'm one of the few who are halfway decent. I'm sure you've seen my brother at school if that's any indication of what the rest of the 'Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' are like. It's a load of bull."

"Yeah he's a nasty one. I take it you two don't get along?"

Sirius nodded. "We're rivals like Slytherins and Gryffindors have always been and always will be."

Monica nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Remus what are they doing?" muttered Emmeline from where she, Hestia, Peter, and Remus sat watching Lily and James and Monica and Sirius. 

"Well from my point of view it looks like talking," said Remus.

"But they don't talk!" insisted Emmeline. "They argue, they insult each other!"

"Well maybe Monica's finally warming up to him," suggested Peter.

Emmeline and Hestia snorted.

"Like that would ever happen," said Hestia.

"You never know," argued Remus.

"That'll be the day!" laughed Hestia. "The day Monica Longbottom 'warms up' to Sirius Black is the day I turn into a Chinese Fireball."

Remus and Peter glared at the two girls and walked away.

"She just touched him!" shrieked Emmeline still staring at Monica and Sirius. "Monica said she'd wouldn't touch him with a twenty foot pole!"

"At least Lily and James are still sane," commented Hestia as she glanced at the pair who were sitting on opposite ends of the room and glaring angrily at each other.

"Do you we think we should do something about Monica?" said Emmeline anxiously. "You know, hit over the head and drag her away from Black?"

"She's a big girl Em. Monica doesn't need our help."

"But..."

"No buts. She's fine."

Just then, Mrs. Livingston entered the parlor and said, "Dinner is served."

* * *

Now I'm sure you're all wondering about the whole Remus/Liz/Mollie dilemma that Sirius and James were going to blackmail Remus about. So I will explain it as thoroughly as possible. 

Remus started dating a girl named Elizabeth Connelly who also (coveniently) happened to have an identical twin sister named Mollie. Both girls liked Remus and Liz hadn't told her sister about her dating Remus because she knew how jealous Mollie would be. Anyway worst comes to worse, Remus mistakes Mollie for Liz and has a snog with her in some cupboard. Remus realizes his mistake and freaks out. He tells Mollie he's through with her and puts a Memory Charm on her so she'll forget the whole episode. Then Remus breaks it off with Liz because he feels so guilty and in case Mollie's memory charm ever wears off.

James and Sirius would have told Liz how he made out with her sister and put a Memory Charm on her and then the two twins would have spread it around the school ruining Remus' reputation.

I guess Remus has some skeltons in his closet too. He..he.. **E.D.J. **


	11. Part Three Dinner with the Enemy

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Disclaimer- **(Sing to the tune of Hot Cross Buns) Is...not...mine. Is...not...mine. Harry...Potter...Harry...Potter...is...not...mine. OLE! (Ok that's my touch)

**Authoress' Note- **I apologize profusely for not updating for two weeks! I haven't been working on any of my fanfics and have been concentrating on working on my book that I hope to get published. (See Seven Years of Marauding for full details on that). Hope this makes up for my away time! As always review and then... review again! **E.D.J.**

**Thanks to my lovely reader and reviewers! May this chapter meet your expectations! Also please read the response to Sarahlouhardy's review if your wondering about L/J finally happening.**

**anniePADFOOT**- I'm glad you liked the Remus/Liz/Mollie thing. I just had to think of something that James and Sirius could blackmail him with and that's what popped into my head! I like the Sirius/Monica dialogue too!

**blinkgurl017**- I finally did get the door thing to work! There's a light switch hidden in the blackness when you open the door. I don't know if it's still open anymore though!

**saulafansam**- Yes finally you can have more! And here's a cookie! Just don't hurt me! What doe Pwez! mean anyway?

**Sarahlouhardy**-Umm... about Lily/James finally getting together... well the answer is no they are not going to seeing as this is the summer between fifth and sixth year and Lily/James doesn't happen till seventh year. Either by the end of this, Lily will (if possible) hate James even more or actually think he's improved a bit. I haven't decided yet. But don't stop reading this! I am planning on writing a sequel for the summer between sixth and seventh year and there will definitely be much more L/J going on. So keep reading this, so you aren't confused when the sequel happens! (**To all readers and Sarahlouhardy who are reading this from the note above)** _I'm sorry if your upset by this and sending me flames saying 'Oh I hate you! I'm never going to read this again because Lily and James will neve be together!' isn't going to change my mind. This is the summer of fifth-sixth year! It's unrealistic and inaccurate to make Lily and James start dating now. Just wait it out and enjoy the ride and laughs! Everyone reading **Seven Years of Marauding** (my other Marauders story) is doing that since it starts in first year and goes onward. Can't you wait too? Thank you and read on._ **E.D.J.**

**blah blah blah**-I am so glad you thought the last chapter was awesome! Yeah I personally think Remus is hilarious too! I think he's sorta like me. Very sarcastic. The Mollie/Liz thing is kinda weird, but that's what popped into my head when I thought of a way to blackmail Remus! He..he..

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**Ch. 11- Dinner at the Potters' Part Three- Dinner with the Enemy**

As they walked to the dining room, Lily mentally listed all the things she would do and _not_ do while at the Potter residence.

**Lily Evans' List of Things _Not_ to Do While at the Potter Residence**

**1)Talk to James Potter**- _Will lead to an evening of listening to him brag about himself and unwanted date offers._

**2)Make Eye Contact with James Potter**- _Will lead to the above even without talking to him._

**3)Talk to Sirius Black**- _Conversation will be filled with annoying innuendos and complete bizarreness._

**4)Talk to Peter Pettigrew-** _He's just too... Peter. Why are they friends with him anyway?_

**Things to Do While at the Potter Residence**

**1)Talk to Emmeline, Hestia, and Monica**- _No explanation needed. I suppose I can talk to Remus too. He's not an idiot like his friends. Not much of a question of why he's friends with Potter and Black. Some of their pranks are just too elaborate to be thought up by just those two. I suppose that's where Remus comes in._

**2)Ask Monica why in the name of sweet Merlin was she talking to Sirius Black!**-_ I personally think an international spy or something has replaced her. Maybe she's tied up somewhere wondering why we haven't found her yet!_

**3)Find and untie Monica if the above appears to be true**- _Where could they have hidden her? Why did they take her? Maybe Monica is really an undercover spy for England and some other country wanted her off the case! Bloody hell I've been watching James Bond too much over the holidays. (Add to above #5)_ **Stop watching James Bond films**-_They result in intense paranoia and suspicions about good friends._

**4)Make polite conversation with Mr/Mrs. Jones/Potter if necessary**- _What do you talk about with your best friend's/arch-nemesis' parents? Finance? How bloody huge their summer homes are? How much you hate their son? Has their son has always been a conceited prat? No, must refrain from insults too._

Lily breathed in and out trying to slow her heart. She glanced around the dining room as they walked in. Huge ornate cabinets filled with delicate china, gold candlesticks on the table, and a giant chandelier hung with sparkling crystals.

"Always knew the git was this loaded," she whispered to Emmeline and they giggled silently.

Mrs. Livingston directed Mr./Mrs. Jones/Potter to one end of the table and the four girls and the Marauders to the other end. As luck would have it, Lily was seated next to James and Monica next to Sirius.

"I hope the seating arrangements are to your liking," said Mrs. Livingston her eyes twinkling. She winked at James who smiled slightly. He had bribed her with a prank-free house for the entire summer if she put Lily next to him. He could still prank the Jones' house of course.

"Actually..." began Lily frowning as James leaned back in his chair a bit.

"What Lily means to say is that it's wonderful! Fantastic! Couldn't be better!" said Hestia quickly smiling at Mrs. Livingston and shooting a stern glance at Lily.

Lily sighed. She would have to survive this dinner next to James 'Conceited Prat' Potter.

"So Hestia, James, what do you rich brats eat for dinner?" asked Remus breaking the awkward silence. "Gold? Diamonds?"

Everyone snickered.

"Of course not!" said Hestia whacking Remus 'round the head.

"We 'rich brats' prefer a nice lamb for dinner," added James. "Which is what we're having tonight. The gold and diamonds upset the stomach too much."

"I suppose you don't burn Galleons for warmth either?" asked Remus.

"You're hopeless Moony," said James sighing.

"I guess I'm just not 'sophisticated' enough for your tastes, eh Jamesie?" said Remus sighing in mock anguish.

"That's me as well," said Lily sighing. "I wasn't born into a sea of Galleons either. Unlike some people." She faked evil glares at Hestia, Sirius, and James. Well the glare at James wasn't all that fake.

Sirius looked incredibly offended and spoke up after being strangely quiet for a while. "Why did you glare at _me_?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Bla...Sirius. Everyone knows your family has more money than Hestia and James' combined." _Oops that breaking #3 of Things Not to Do While at the Potter Residence! Damn. _

Sirius eyes darkened a bit. "Yeah, but a whole lot of good it does them. They're still slimy pureblood gits no matter how much money they have."

Monica heard and saw the change in Sirius and patted his hand without thinking. "Sirius, Lily just meant that..." It was surprising how she had no difficulty calling him Sirius when they were all forced to use each other's first names.

"What Monica means to say Padfoot, is stop acting all moody and pissed off! You know we don't think you're a pureblood scumbag, so just snap out of it ok? You're acting like someone before..." James trailed off before the words tumbled out of his mouth. He couldn't believe he'd almost been so careless as to reveal Remus' secret.

Remus and Sirius were both glaring at him, but for very different reasons. Remus because of James almost blabbing out the secret he'd kept hidden for almost six years and Sirius because James' babbling had made Monica realize what she was doing and had pulled her hand away from his. Sirius stared at Monica's hand willing it to move towards him again.

"Acting like who before what?" asked Emmeline confused.

"Umm... what I was going to say was..." said James racking his brain for an answer. "He was acting like... a girl before 'that time of the month'."

Loud protests from the girls.

The girls all looked incredibly insulted and his friends looked exceedingly disgusted and uncomfortable.

Mutters of "insensitive", "typical", "not that bad", and "stupid wanker" could be heard from the girls as they glared at James who looked taken aback and very afraid.

"Er... sorry...didn't mean...no...stop glaring..." James sputtered out sliding his chair away from Lily on his right and into Peter on his left.

Thankfully, soup and salad were brought in before any blows or insults were exchanged.

On the other end of the table, the parents were discussing their children proudly.

"James is growing into quite a nice, polite boy," said Mrs. Jones.

"Yes, he's getting to be quite the ladies' man," said Mrs. Potter laughing seeing her son looking strangely afraid of Hestia and her friends. "He's always complaining about how he can't go anywhere at school with out being mobbed or followed."

"Word has it that James is after Hestia's friend Lily," said Mr. Jones glancing down the table at the eight teenagers with a slight smirk.

"Oh really?" said Mr. Potter raising his eyebrows. "Is she staying with you? Which one is she?"

Mr. Jones nodded at Lily who was laughing with Remus and Hestia and Mr. and Mrs. Potter watched her for a moment.

"Oh she looks like a lovely girl," said Mrs. Potter her eyes bright. "What's she like?"

"Well for one thing, she said she doesn't think of James in 'that way'," said Mrs. Jones remembering Lily's response.

"She's trying to resist the Potter charm eh?" said Mrs. Potter smiling. "Well that makes two of us. I couldn't stand Jonathan for five whole years!"

"But I got you in the end didn't I?" said Mr. Potter smirking and giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.

"You didn't 'get me'!" said Mrs. Potter smacking his chest. "I just decided it was better to date you than to... well not date you."

"_Right_," said Mr. Potter rolling his eyes.

"You're so conceited, you know that?" said Mrs. Potter rolling her eyes right back at him.

"But you love me _because_ I'm conceited!"

"No darling, I love you _in spite_ of the fact that you're so conceited," said Mrs. Potter with a laugh.

"Well that works too," said Mr. Potter giving his wife a kiss.

"MUM! DAD!" yelped James from down the table. "Please don't snog each other in public! Especially in front of my schoolmates!" _Though I wouldn't mind snogging a certain redhead in front of the entire Ministry of Magic... _he thought to himself.

The seven other teenagers sniggered when they saw how red with embarrassment James was.

"Sorry dear," said Mrs. Potter suppressing a giggle as her son's face finally returned to its normal color.

James turned back to his friends. "Sorry about that." He grimaced. "Parents."

Everyone burst into a fit of giggles and snorts again and then James, to their delight, turned red _again_.

"What?" he muttered staring confused at each of them. "What's so funny?"

"You should see your face!" Lily managed to gasp through tears. "I never not I'd see the day when James Potter was so embarrassed!"

Emmeline and Monica nodded as they positively howled with laughter.

Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Hestia turned to look at James and laughed harder as his face turned even redder.

"It's not funny," James mumbled laying his head down on the table, so he couldn't see them and they couldn't see his face.

"Gross," he said spitting out some lettuce. He had forgotten that his half full plate of salad was on the table and now he had salad dressing and bits of lettuce smeared across his face.

He glared at his friends who were covering their mouths in effort to stop their laughter. "Go ahead and laugh," he muttered dabbing at his face with his napkin as everyone laughed at James' latest predicament.

Once James had cleaned off his face, he moved his plate of salad and banged his head against the table making numerous saltcellars tip over and glasses wobble.

"James, get a hold of yourself!" said Mrs. Potter sternly and James looked up to see her glaring at him. "We have guests. It is not the time for one of your temper tantrums."

"Temper tantrums?" hissed Sirius delighted. "What are you four?"

"Shut it Padfoot!" James muttered.

"Girls I apologize for James' behavior," said Mrs. Potter smiling at the four girls. "Boys can be so immature at fifteen."

The girls nodded smiling delightedly while the Marauders gaped appalled.

"I for one am most definitely not immature," Sirius stated.

"And transfiguring Remus' teeth into walrus tusks last April was what?" asked Monica staring at him skeptically.

"I thought it was a vast improvement," said Sirius ducking Remus' fist. "Remmy's teeth have always been a bit titchy."

"And walrus tusks were the solution?" said Remus giving Sirius a long look down his nose.

"Don't you give me that long-exasperated-down-your-nose-look Mr. Lupin!" said Sirius bitterly. "It makes you look like your thinking, 'Wow I'm so much smarter than this imbecile. Why can't he be a swot like me?'"

"Actually that _was_ what I was thinking!" said Remus chuckling as his best friend's face turned a blotchy sort of purple.

"If we weren't in James' fancy-smancy dining room surrounded by witnesses, you'd be in a headlock right about now Moony," Sirius hissed.

"I heard that Sirius Black!" shouted Mrs. Potter sternly. "Leave dear Remus alone!"

"Oh I wouldn't dream of hurting 'dear Remus'!" exclaimed Sirius smirking at his friend who's ears where rather pink. "Everybody loves him too much!"

"Would anyone like some lamb?" said Mrs. Livingston entering the dining room carrying a steaming platter that smelled of rosemary and roasted meat.

"Yes please," everyone said as Mrs. Livingston and a house elf that followed behind her with dishes of potatoes and bread served them.

"Thanks Vics!" said James grinning at the house elf as he grabbed three rolls from the basket the house elf held out to him.

The house elf sighed and shook his head. "Young master, how many times is I telling you that I is called Victor? Not_ Vics_."

"Sorry must have slipped my mind," said James apologetically though he enjoyed annoying their old house elf. It was all in good fun of course.

Victor squinted up at James for a moment and then scowled. "Young master is not sorry at all!" The house-elf lightly smacked James elbow and hurried to serve the rest of the table.

"I suppose your family's not one to abuse the privileges of having a house elf?" said Emmeline having taken in the whole scene.

"Of course not!" said James. "They're magical beings too! Victor is respected in our house. He's been with our family since before I was born."

"He's much better than Kreacher, our house elf," said Sirius remorsefully. "Since I'm _such _a disgrace to the family, Mother's told him not to do anything I say until the day she dies. Nasty old hag. I'm getting out of their one day and never coming back."

"So," Peter cut in hastily fearing they would have to hear Sirius complain and insult his family some more. "What are we going to do all summer?"

"_We?_" said Lily coldly. "I wasn't aware that any of our leisure time was going to be spent with you four willingly."

"Lily!" hissed Hestia elbowing her friend. "Be nice."

"It's fine Hestia," said James shaking his head. "We all know how hated Sirius and I are." He cast a sad glance at Lily who rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes, why can't we just be loved?" said Sirius laying his head on Monica's shoulder. The evening was going alright, he'd thought he give himself a little reward for holding himself back all night.

"Geroff me!" snapped Monica pushing him away.

_Well the rest of my hard work just when down the toilet! Stupid, stupid, stupid! _

_And he was being so sweet too! Goes to show me. Boys never change._

James turned his head from Sirius and Monica's glaring contest and stared at Lily hopefully.

"Don't even think about it you prat," muttered Lily.

_Why's he being so insufferable now? He's was actually almost normal before! Blame me for thinking he's been trying to change._

_She's impossible! Why am I so hung up on a girl who hates me with a passion? Could this whole change-so-she'll-like-you-and-snog-you-senseless plan be completely pointless?_

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**Kinda angsty at the end huh? But hope you enjoyed the laughs! Just a note- I'm not going to set dates for when I'll be posting new chapters because I'll be stressing trying to finish the chapters and I'll just end up delaying it and disappointing my readers! (tear) Just hold on and I'll get them out as they come to me and when I have the time to type them up kay? Happy trails! E.DJ. **

**P.S. The shiny button likes reviews! Don't let it die of hunger! Feed the poor thing! **


	12. Moody Mornings and Beauxbatons History

**Disclaimer**-I really don't know why I have to keep saying this! Do you all have short-term memory? I don't own it!

**Authoress' Note**-Hi! I consider this a very pivotal chapter in the Monica/Sirius relationship!! Yay! Also **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE** read and respond to the authoress' note at the end of this chapter! It's crucial to the survival of the story! Also I credit almost total saving of the shiny button to **blinkgurl017** for her wonderful concern about him. He's doing better... for now... He requests at least 5 reviews to keep him happy and healthy! Feed him! **E.D.J.**

**(1) **Credited to Friends. **  
**

**Thanks to the reviewers!**

**Padfoot gone Girl**- You changed your name! I must say your language is rather odd. Thanks for reviewing! Pwez review again!

**blinkgurl017**- Did you notice your shiny button saving credit above?? Hopefully I've inspired you to update your own story! Did you like my nice long reviews and suggestions??

**evil-yogurt-of-doom**- Wow cool pen name. I'm glad you love the story!

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**Ch. 12- Moody Mornings and Beauxbatons "History" **

"Padfoot, Prongs!" called two faint voices. James squinted up at the blurred shapes above him before rolling back over.

"Whatdja want?" Sirius muttered his eyelids fluttering as he buried his head into his pillow.

"Time to get up, it's a bright new morning! Rise and shine!" shouted Remus throwing Sirius' pillow across the room.

"Mooooooony!!!" moaned Sirius feeling around for his non-exist pillow without even opening his eyes.

Remus grabbed James' pillow and threw it across the room too, along with all of his blankets. He did the same with Sirius'.

"MOOOOONY!" Sirius and James groaned curling themselves into tight balls to try and stay warm without actually moving much.

Remus nodded to Peter who scurried out of James' room and returned with two large buckets. They each took one and walked over to one of their friends' beds.

James cracked an eye open and muttered, "Wormtail what are you... ARGH!" Ice cold water splashed all over him and he flew up and out of bed. Sirius was right beside him drenched to the skin through his pajamas.

"Good morning sunshines!" Remus cooed immensely satisfied. "James, your mum wanted us down for breakfast fifteen minutes ago. And now that you two are awake, we can eat!"

Remus started towards the door, but never made it as James and Sirius tackled him to the ground.

"Geroff me!" Remus yelped.

James and Sirius grinned at each other and stopped pummeling Remus instantly.

"You're too easy Moony," said James smirking as he noticed Moony now was wet too.

"Funny, I could say the same about you two," commented Remus before bounding out of the room before James and Sirius could resume beating on him again.

Remus panted heavily as he finally reached the kitchen and he collapsed into a chair sighing.

"Remus! You're soaked!" said Mrs. Potter waving her wand and Remus' clothes instantly dried.

"Just the normal wake up calls," said Remus shrugging. "Water works quite well."

Just then, James and Sirius entered the kitchen grumbling and they sat down at the table all the while glaring evilly at Remus. Remus just stuck his tongue out at them and winced as both James and Sirius aimed kicks at his shins underneath the table.

"Boys!" said Mrs. Potter disapprovingly. "Don't gang up on Remus."

"Or at least wait until Peter's here, so it's a fair fight," commented Mr. Potter glancing up from his Daily Prophet.

"Jonathan!" hissed Mrs. Potter slapping her husband's elbow.

Mr. Potter just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Where is Peter anyway?" asked Remus aiming a few kicks back at his two friends. "Wasn't he with you two?"

"Ow!" said Sirius glaring at him. "No. He went to the loo. Poor bloke probably got himself lost again."

"I'll go find him," said James getting up and going out of the kitchen.

Once James had disappeared, Sirius smirked and asked, "Reckon he just made things worse with Evans last night?"

"Of course," said Remus with a slight smile. "It's Prongs. I think we may be asking a bit too much of him to drop his every bad habit at all once. Maybe he should start out slow, you know, no bragging, then move on later to no bragging AND deflating his ego and so and so forth."

"Brilliant Moony!" said Sirius nodding his approval. "So how'd I do with Miss Longbottom?"

"Excellent," said Remus. "Bet she'd go out with you in a heartbeat after how you acted last night."

"Really?" said Sirius astonished.

"No I was being sarcastic you idiot!" said Remus exasperatedly. "You think one day of good acting is all it takes? And after the diaster that ended last night to boot?"

"What disaster?"

"Putting your head on her shoulder perhaps?"

"Oh yeah! What was wrong with that again?"

"Do the words 'Geroff Black!' ring any bells?"

"Not really. I don't really comprehend words that I don't want to hear."

"Comprehend? Big word to start off the day, eh Padfoot?" said Remus raising an eyebrow.

"Just because I'm not a bloody swot, doesn't mean I'm a complete idiot!" Sirius panted angrily.

"Breathe Padfoot. Here have some juice." Remus offered Sirius a glass of orange juice.

Sirius just glared. "I don't want any of your bloody juice, Moony."

"Cranky today Padfoot?" asked James sitting down again as he and Peter entered the kitchen. He nodded at Peter who scowled. "Found him in the shed out back."

"Hey! How was I supposed to know that the kitchen wasn't out there?" Peter protested turning quite purple in the face.

"Maybe because nobody has a kitchen located _outside_ their home?" suggested Remus who ducked as Peter flung a bit of marmalade at him.

"I happen to know a number of people with kitchens outside their house!" said Peter indignantly.

"Who might that be?" asked Sirius raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Calista and... Milo," said Peter buttering a bit of toast. "They work with my mum."

"Both of them?" asked James.

"No."

"Which one works with her then?"

"I don't know. What were the two names I just said?" **(1) **

Everyone dissolved into fits of loud snorts, much to Peter's dismay.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

Everyone just shook their heads. Peter would eventually figure it out.

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"NOOOOO!!!!!!!" protested Monica as Lily and Hestia tugged at her ankles. "It's not time to get up!" 

With one more wrenching tug, Monica flew off the bed and Lily and Hestia landed on the floor laughing wildly. Emmeline looked on, smirking slightly, as Monica proceeded to chase the two girls around with a fire poker she'd grabbed from the sitting room.

"Monica!" Emmeline shouted yawning slightly. "It's too early for murder."

"Yeah you're right," said Monica sighing sleepily as she made a big show of stuffing the fire poker under her bed. She gave Lily and Hestia threatening glares.

They just rolled their eyes and commanded Monica to get dressed so they could get some breakfast.

After Monica got dressed, deliberately very slowly, the four girls thundered down the stairs down to the kitchen. Hestia asked the cook to make the four of them some of his famous waffles and the girls ate hungrily.

"What's the plan for today?" asked Lily between mouthfuls.

"Plan? There's no plan!" said Hestia happily. "That's the beauty of staying here for the holidays, Lils. We can do whatever we want whenever we want, granted it's not overly expensive, dangerous..."

"Can I set Potter on fire?" interrupted Lily staring at her friend intently.

"Well er... that might be violating the overly dangerous rule," said Hestia cautiously. "Besides we can't use magic on the holidays anyway."

"Oh I don't need magic," said Lily grinning evilly.

Emmeline scowled at her friend. "Lily, you can't use any Muggle stuff either."

"Damn," muttered Lily glaring at her plate.

"Let's look for cute Beauxbatons guys!" Monica exclaimed eagerly. "I have yet to see any blokes besides the 'wonderful' Marauders."

The other girls readily agreed. After changing into their cutest bathing suits, the girls rushed outside eager to find some hot French guys. Unfortunately, the first thing they saw was a group of four, very familiar looking guys, who were gaping enormously. You could practically see the drool. The guys didn't look too bad themselves. Quite buff. Well, besides Peter of course.

"Hi!" said Hestia brightly.

"Yeah! Hi!" said James snapping out of it and he realized he was staring. At a particular redhead. He nudged his friends and the other three closed their mouths and tried to focus on the thread of the conversation instead of on the four skimpily clad girls in front of them. James was trying to do the same.

"Going swimming?" asked Hestia laughing silently as she noticed the Marauders' awe-struck faces.

"Yeah probably," said James. "You?"

"Oh we're going to try and meet some people from Beauxbatons," said Monica smiling vaguely. "Lily's interested in the school's history."

She nudged Lily who nodded.

"You're going to learn about history wearing _that_?" asked Sirius staring at Monica.

"Is that a problem?" Monica asked coldly.

"Nooo..."

"Because if it is a problem, I'll go up and change right now," said Monica grinning mysteriously. "Anything for you, Sirius."

"Ok..." Sirius said puzzled. What had brought on this new change? Hadn't Moony said last night was a complete disaster? Maybe it hadn't been as bad as he had thought.

"Nah, you don't have to," said Sirius casually smiling flirtatiously at her.

"Well we have to go!" said Emmeline quickly pulling at Monica's arm. "We have all that _history_ to learn."

"Well maybe I'll come with you," said Remus. "I've always been fascinated with Beauxbatons. It might be cool to here what it's like there from an actual student."

"Ok sure!" said Emmeline dragging Monica away from the others.

"What the hell Em?" asked Monica rubbing her arm.

"What is with you? What are you doing with Black?" demanded Emmeline.

"Black? Nothing!" said Monica grimacing with distaste. "It's just fun messing with him."

"Monica you are so conceited!" snapped Emmeline. "It's not right to lead him on like that!"

"Fine, I'll stop," said Monica still rubbing her arm. "Merlin you're strong."

"Good." Emmeline's face quickly became less stormy.

"Can I still insult him?" asked Monica.

"I suppose," said Emmeline with a sigh.

They walked back over to the others and discovered that not only was Remus coming with them, all _four_ of the Marauders were coming. Monica groaned inwardly at the news. She could tell Lily was no better by the angry scowl on her friend's face. The eight teens walked along the beach looking for some French teens to learn about "Beauxbatons' history" from.

Lily eventually glanced up from glaring angrily at the sand to notice that James Potter had fallen into to step beside her. She sighed audibly. "Are you sure you four don't want to go swimming? You don't have to bore yourselves with history," she asked hopefully.

"Well we can't leave Remus unsupervised with a bunch of beautiful girls can we? There's no telling what he might do," said James innocently.

Lily glowered. "Yeah. Remus is positively vicious."

_You have no idea. _James thought as he touched a half-healed cut on his wrist from their last full moon adventure.

Finally, they saw a small group of teenagers sprawled out on the beach ahead. To James and Sirius' dismay and Monica's delight, there was a number of very cute guys among the group.

Monica bee lined it over to one of the guys. "Do you go to Beauxbatons?" she asked eagerly not really caring what the answer was.

"Yes. 'ogwarts I presume?" said the guy who grinned smugly at her.

Monica nodded.

The rest of the group fanned out and began talking to various Beauxbatons students. James, however, hung back watching Lily giggle as she chatted with one of the guys.

_History, my arse._ James smiled grimly and decided to make the best of it by going over to the pretty girl who had been eyeing him for the last few minutes. He wasn't going to be the only miserable one of the group. Even Peter was talking with one of the girls though he was struggling profusely with the girl's accent.

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Finally, after a few hours, Hestia insisted that they had to go home for lunch. James was rather relieved. They said goodbye and began walking down the beach until Lily glanced around and asked, "Where's Monica?" 

Everyone looked around, but Monica wasn't with them.

"I bet she's back there still," said Lily sighing. "We'd better go get her."

An idea hit Sirius. "Actually I think I left my towel back there. You guys go ahead. I'll get her."

"But you didn't bring a..." began Peter, but he was silenced by angry look from Sirius.

Emmeline frowned slightly, but she didn't protest to Sirius' idea. They waved goodbye to Sirius and set off back toward the house while Sirius hurried in the opposite direction

Finally, he neared the group and ran panting up to them. "Longbottom!" he panted finding her surprised face within the group. "We're..." He trailed off noticing the guy who had his arm wrapped around Monica's shoulders. "Uh...leaving," he said quickly. "Lunch."

"Alright Black," said Monica casually standing up and the guy stood up too. Seeing Sirius' red face, she suppressed a smirk and added, "Oh, this is Gavin. We're going out tomorrow night."

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Uh...oh. -grins evilly- Like I told you, pivotal chapter. Look below to find out why you must review! **E.D.J.**

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**NOTE THE BOLD PRINT! PLEASE READ!**

I've been meaning to ask my readers' opinion on my idea for Gavin's personality. That's why I ended it in a cliffhanger because I haven't asked you yet. My idea is to have him be this crazy, happy guy who tries to put a good spin on everything. A.K.A. Alec Baldwin's personality when he gueststars as Phoebe's date Parker on Friends. Abso-bloody-lutely hilarious!! I'm adding a few Parker quotes if you need an idea of what he's like! Please review and tell me your thoughts! **E.D.J. **

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**_Parker:_**_ What a beautiful place. What a great night! I have to tell you, being here with all of you in Event Room C...I feel so lucky. I think of all the good times that have happened here. The birthdays, the proms, the mitzvahs both bar and bat, but none of them will compare with tonight! My God, I don't want to forget this moment! It's like I want to take a mental picture of you all! Click! (He takes a mental picture of them all.)_

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**This is Chandler's comment on Parker!**

_**Chandler:** Somewhere there is someone with a tranquilizer gun and a huge butterfly net looking for that man.

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**Ross's Imitation!**

_**Ross:** (imitating Parker) This room! This night! That waiter! His shoes! I must take a mental picture! (He backs into someone.) Ooh sorry... (He looks behind him then notices its Phoebe then stops his impression.) _

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_**Parker:** My God what a fantastically well lit hallway!_

_**Phoebe:** Can I get you something to drink? Like a water and Valium? _

_**Parker:** I must say this apartment, it's, it's, There are no words..._

_**Phoebe:** Oh thank God. _

_**Parker:** It's a haven. A third-floor paradise. A modern-day Eden in the midst..._

_**Phoebe:** Yeah? I know! I know! Uh huh? Listen why don't we just um, sit and relax? You know just be with each other. Quietly! _

_**Parker:** That sounds great. (Sits down) My God this is the most comfortable couch I've ever sat on in my entire life. (Bounces on couch) _

* * *

_**Parker:** Is something wrong?_

_**Phoebe:** Wrong? Really? You know the word wrong. Everything isn't perfect? Everything isn't magical? Everything isn't a glow with the light of a million fairies? They were just brake lights, Parker! _

_**Parker:** Well, excuse me for putting a good spin on a traffic jam!_

* * *

Now on the strange ending note, please tell me your thoughts AND what you thought of this chapter!! **E.D.J.**


	13. The Guy From Planet Crazy

**Disclaimer**-I have only created Monica and Gavin from this chapter. And incidentally Monica is the sister of Frank Longbottom making her more JK. Rowling's than mine and Gavin is basically Parker on Friends making the Friends people own him more than I do! So I own nothing!!!!

**Authoress' Note**- I'm so glad I got so much positive feedback about the Gavin being Parker-esque!! It really is quite tiring to try and write him (but still fun to do), so I'm not sure how long he'll stay or how often he'll appear! Makes it all the better for Monica/Sirius to happen! HEE HEE! **E.D.J.**

**Thanks!**

**anniePADFOOT**-Glad you loved my Parker/Gavin idea!

**Padfoot Gone Girl-** Yes you may have another cookie! You can choose the kind and a imaginary cookie will arrive in four to six weeks.

**La Conquistadora**- Don't you threaten me into to making the story how you want it! (sticks tongue out) Actually Gavin is, as I said above, quite tiring to write, so he may not last long anyway!

**blinkgurl017**-Yes Gavin is Parker!

* * *

**Ch. 13- The Guy from Planet Crazy **

_Finally, after a few hours, Hestia insisted that they had to go home for lunch. James was rather relieved. They said goodbye and began walking down the beach until Lily glanced around and asked, "Where's Monica?"_

_Everyone looked around, but Monica wasn't with them. _

"_I bet she's back there still," said Lily sighing. "We'd better go get her."_

_An idea hit Sirius. "Actually I think I left my towel back there. You guys go ahead. I'll get her."_

"_But you didn't bring a..." began Peter, but he was silenced by angry look from Sirius._

_Emmeline frowned slightly, but she didn't protest to Sirius' idea. They waved goodbye to Sirius and set off back towards the house while Sirius hurried in the opposite direction_

_Finally, he neared the group and ran panting up to them. "Longbottom!" he panted finding her surprised face within the group. "We're..." He trailed off noticing the guy who had his arm wrapped around Monica's shoulders. "Uh...leaving," he said quickly. "Lunch."_

"_Alright Black," said Monica casually standing up and the guy stood up too. Seeing Sirius' red face, she suppressed a smirk and added, "Oh and this is Gavin. We're going out tomorrow night." _

"Out?" asked Sirius disbelievingly. _As in this guy's going out with MY dream girl??_

In his observations, Monica had been one who'd been out with a number of guys, but not ones she'd only known for less than twenty-four hours!

"Yes, going out Black," said Monica rolling her eyes. "Do you need us to spell it out for you?"

"No that won't be necessary, thanks," muttered Sirius gruffly. "Let's go back to James and Hestia's."

"Come to lunch with me, Gavin?" pleaded Monica gazing up at the sandy blonde haired guy. "Then you can meet everyone else!"

"I'd love too!" said Gavin excitedly.

"Great!" said Sirius forcing a smile and then trudged down the beach eager not to see Gavin and Monica strolling hand and hand behind him.

"FOUND HER!" Sirius bellowed as he jogged up to the house well far ahead of Gavin and Monica.

He circled around to the back of the Potters' house and found his friends and the other three girls preparing sandwiches and Lily looked none too happy to be spending yet another meal with the Marauders. Unfortunately the Jones' cook had been out shopping and none of the girls had wanted to brave the various appliances in the kitchen.

Sirius ran up to them and panted, "Longbottom, pretty boy, Gavin..." before collapsing into a chair breathing heavily into his hands.

"What the...?" asked Remus worriedly as Sirius began to look like he was beginning to hyperventilate.

"CALM DOWN PADFOOT!" James shouted, which only caused Sirius to look worse.

Peter stepped forward. "Ok Padfoot, easy breaths, in and out, you'll be fine, relax." He patted Sirius' shoulder comfortingly and Sirius breathing slowed to normal after a few minutes.

"How'd you do that?" asked James incrediously gaping at Peter.

Peter shrugged. "It happened to me once. That's what my mum did."

"Thanks Wormtail," said Sirius, though it was muffled because his hands were still over his face.

"What happened Black?" asked Hestia. "Where's Monica? And who's..."

Just then, Monica and Gavin entered the yard laughing hysterically.

"Gavin..." Sirius hissed.

"Oh..."

"Hi everyone this is Gavin!" said Monica brightly. "Gavin this is..."

"Oh no, let me guess!" said Gavin striking a thoughtful thinking pose.

Gavin circled the group who eyed him warily, and then suddenly he pointed at Peter who looked positively bewildered as he stared at Gavin. "PETER! There you are! You're exactly as I imagined you! Come here you scrawny little devil!" Gavin threw his arms around Peter who patted the guy's shoulder awkwardly.

"And Hestia! You're looking lovely and you shouldn't worry about Muggle Studies so much because you are a smart, intelligent girl!" Gavin kissed Hestia on the cheek to her surprise.

"Em! Quiet, but observant eh? I love it!" He kissed Emmeline too.

"Remus! You've got an incredible tongue for sarcasm! Keep it buddy!" He hugged Remus.

"James! Hogwarts' ladies man eh? And a top student to boot? You live a charmed life, my friend!" Gavin strode over to hug James, but James jumped backward.

"You know, Remus and I had a real nice hug a few minutes ago, so I've pretty much filled my quota for the next few ... years. How 'bout a handshake?" James stuck out his hand.

Gavin shook his hand and laughed loudly. "Classic James!"

"And Lily! You are stunning! And that hair! May I?"

"May you what?" began Lily, but Gavin had already grabbed a strand of her red hair and was examining it closely. Lily stood stiffly, too stunned to move.

"It's like a crisp autumn day! A smoldering fire!" said Gavin finally releasing Lily who backed away a few steps.

"Yeah...thanks," said Lily warily.

James glared angrily at Gavin. What right to this random guy have to touch Lily?

Both Gavin and Lily noticed James' red face. Lily glared back while Gavin laughed hysterically. "Now James, don't get all jealous, we know you fancy this girl," A loud huff from Lily. "and she completely loathes you!"

"Monica!" hissed Lily. "Why'd you tell him about all our personal business?! This... guy doesn't need to know my... OUR personal business."

"I didn't!" retorted Monica. 

"Yeah right."

"No, no girls stop fighting!" said Gavin flapping his arms around. "No Lily darling, Monica didn't tell me about your little personal vendetta against James. It's painfully obvious that you feel some deep feelings of hate for this poor boy."

Gavin patted James on the shoulder and James smiling sadly at Lily who rolled her eyes.

"And you..." said Gavin shaking a finger at Sirius who smiled weakly. "Sirius! Monica was slightly reluctant to divulge any details about _you_. I think she may have fancied you at one time or another."

Sirius eyebrows shot skyward and loud hoots came from Remus and James. "Really?" he said barely able to hold in his glee.

"Gavin!" hissed Monica coloring slightly. "Ok first year before I realized you were a little arrogant berk of course." She readied herself for Sirius' retort.

Sirius just nodded and winked at her, a glint of his old confidence back in his eyes. _She knows she loves me. _

"So what wondrous food are we eating today?" asked Gavin eagerly.

Peter held up a half eaten sandwich.

"Sandwiches? Brilliant! A wonder between two pieces of bread!" Gavin quickly shoveled down a ham sandwich in three seconds flat.

"Hungry?" asked Monica putting her arm through his. Gavin nodded eagerly and made himself another sandwich.

"Dear Merlin!" hissed Lily to James, Emmeline, and Remus. "What is wrong with him?"

"Too much happy on the brain," replied Remus.

"If he says something is 'brilliant' or 'wondrous' again I'll be forced to use a Silencing Charm," wailed Emmeline. "What has Monica gotten herself into?!"

"Emmeline, I thinking you're judging him a little to quickly!" said James. "I mean, who hasn't wanted their own I-LOVE-EVERYTHING-INCLUDING-YOU doll at one time or another?"

"Look at this crab!" shouted Gavin from down the beach. No one knew how he'd gotten there so quickly. Must be that overhappiness adds speed to a person. "He pinched me! What a wonderful thing pain is! Thank you for that gift little crab friend!"

"Oh Merlin," sighed Lily. "Oh Merlin."

"Is that all you can say?" asked Hestia appearing next to James with a plate of food.

"Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin..."

"I guess that would be a yes."

Monica now was on the beach with Gavin laughing and shouting loudly, "Gavin, you're hilarious!"

Everyone glanced at Sirius who was slumped in a chair with his hands over ears.

"I'm fine!" he bellowed when he noticed everyone staring at him. "Go back to your chatting! Don't worry about me!"

"I'll talk to him," said James.

Emmeline stopped him. "No, let me. I feel responsible. I shouldn't have let him go find her."

Emmeline walked over to Sirius down next to him.

"Look James I really don't... oh sorry Em," said Sirius sadly. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologize Sirius. I saw Monica with him earlier; I should have told you or stopped you from going," said Emmeline.

"S'not you're fault," said Sirius. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Even he wasn't there, it wouldn't have changed anything right?"

Emmeline shrugged. "It was worth a chance."

Sirius nodded and sighed loudly.

Emmeline timidly gave him a small hug.

Sirius was surprised. Here he was, being hugged by a girl he hardly knew and he felt strangely comforted. He wasn't even tempted to make a suggestive comment.

He hugged her back for a moment. "Thanks Em."

Emmeline sighed. "It's nothing. I really think you'd be perfect for her, Sirius. It just make take some time for her to realize it too."

* * *

Awww... Em is so sweet! No Em/Sirius coming your way (in case you were afraid of that)! Em's just a wonderfully nice person who can see (like all you readers) that Monica and Sirius is meant to be! Just wanted to clear that up! And like always you should review! I have given up my time when I could be reading my very excellent, very funny book The Grand Tour to write and post this, so be thankful and please review!** E.D.J. **


	14. Awkwardness and Anger

**Disclaimer**- Whether it's in Japanese, French, German, or just plain old English, Harry Potter is NOT mine.

**Authoress' Note- **Sniff, I only got one review for the last chapter, sniff. Where is everybody?? I request the need to get up to 35 reviews before the next chapter is posted. It's only 3 more reviews, so it's not that difficult is it?? I dedicate this chapter to the wonderful **blinkgurl017 **who always reviews whenever I post on any of my three stories! Thank you! **E.D.J.**

**blinkgurl017-** Yes Gavin and Em are wonderful. I personally think that Emmeline is starting to be the character I'm using to get my views as the authoress across.

* * *

**Ch.14- Awkwardness and Anger**

The next evening, Monica was frantic over what to where on her date with Gavin.

"I don't understand these Muggle clothes!" she moaned, glancing nervously at the piles of Emmeline and Lily's clothing all over her room. "How can I go to a Muggle restaurant in dress robes?"

Hestia nodded sympathetically. Even though she was the only one of the four to take Muggle Studies, she still hadn't gotten a grasp on Muggle fashion sense. Lily and Emmeline, being a Muggle-born and half-Muggle, were much more knowledgeable then she in that area.

Lily was glancing from the clothes to Monica and back again, while either nodding approvingly or shaking her head as to whether that particular item of clothing would compliment Monica's features.

Emmeline had refused to take part in any of it. Lily and Hestia had pleaded with her, but Emmeline wouldn't budge. She was set on the fact that Monica and Sirius were meant to be and would _not_ participate in "any act of assistance involving Monica or that crazy boy". Emmeline tended to use very big words when she was passionate about something. She had lied to Monica, saying she had headache and needed a bit of a lie-in, so Emmeline was now holed up in her room. In Lily's opinion, Emmeline was concocting some grand scheme to get Monica and Sirius together involving a highly complex love potion while Hestia leaned more toward Emmeline lowering herself out the window and dragging Sirius off to her secret lair in the Alps in the hopes of Monica coming to Sirius' rescue. Granted the four girls had spent the better part of their day watching a marathon of James Bond movies on the new telly the Jones' had purchased (Hestia and Monica were _fascinated_ by the little talking people), but Hestia thought her assumption about Emmeline was plausible none the less.

"Hestia!" called Lily waving her hand in front of her friend's face and Hestia snapped back to attention. "What do you think?"

Monica twirled around, showing off a little pink dress of Emmeline's that looked absolutely perfect on her.

"I thought we'd start her off with something similar to robes, so she can get more comfortable in Muggle clothes," said Lily and Hestia nodded approvingly.

"It's so short!" complained Monica, tugging at the bottom of the dress until Lily glared disapprovingly at her. 

In all actuality, the dress was fairly innocent looking compared to the pieces of fabric Muggle girls were partying in every night in London.

"It's barely above the knee!" snapped Lily. "Besides, Gavin's eyes will positively pop when he sees your legs in _this_ lovely number."

"Really?" said Monica, eyeing herself critically in the mirror.

Lily shot a look at Hestia, who nodded in agreement.

Monica sighed. "Alright. I'll wear it."

* * *

When the doorbell rang at six o'clock, Monica practically flew down the stairs to answer it. 

"Hi Gavin!" she said excitedly. "Ready to go?"

"Of course," he said taking her arm and leading her outside. Monica gaped at the unbelievable sight.

"You have a... driving thingy?" said Monica making wild motions with her hands. "Even though you're a pureblood wizard?"

Gavin grinned impishly. "Yeah. I fell in love with cars in Muggle Studies class at Beauxbatons and my Muggle born friend taught me how to drive. This is my baby, Marie."

He patted the car's black exterior tenderly and even kissed the windscreen.

"You go to Beauxbatons?" asked Monica incredulously.

Gavin smiled mischievously. "Didn't you wonder why I was hanging out with all those _other_ people who go to Beauxbatons?"

Monica blushed scarlet. "But you're British."

"But I live in France; therefore, making me eligible to go to Beauxbatons." Gavin slid into to the driver's seat and Monica got in too though she was unsure what to do after that.

Gavin noticed her looking around nervously and laughed loudly. "Aren't cars the most wonderful things in the world?"

He started the engine and Monica let out a shriek as rumbling filled the air.

"It's just Marie," said Gavin patting her arm.

"Who's Marie?"

Gavin laughed again. "I love how you pretend to forget things! Who's Marie? Good one!"

Monica just nodded nervously and prayed that the restaurant was close by so she could get out of this _thing_. Thankfully, Gavin parked in front of a low waterfront building after only a few minutes.

He helped Monica out of the car with a dashing bow and a murmur of "Milady."

Monica giggled and let him lead her inside.

"Table for two please," Gavin told the seating hostess in rapid French. "And may I say your hair is the most beautiful shade of grey? You must be very wise for such far advanced years."

Monica couldn't understand what was said, but she saw the hostess' offended look as she led the two of them to a table.

The hostess threw the menus down, rattling the table and causing a glass of water to spill onto Monica.

"Oh!" said Monica, dabbing at the giant wet spot on her lap and blushing heavily.

The hostess smirked and pointed her in the direction of the restroom, tutting in French over the clumsiness of foreigners.

When Monica reached the bathroom, she grappled with a handful of paper towels trying to dry the bottom half of her dress. Suddenly, aslender blondecame out one of the stalls and said something in French. Monica shook her head. The girl switched to English. "You need help?"

Monica nodded and gaped in astonishment as the girl drew out a slim wand and muttered a simple drying spell. She raised her wand again and began to do a Memory Charm, but Monica stopped her saying, "No! I'm a witch too!"

She pulled her wand out of her purse.

The girl looked relieved. "Zat is good for I am 'orrible at Memory Charms." She stuck out her hand. "I am called Ambre, but I believe it is said 'Amber' in Eenglish, yes?"

Monica nodded and shook Ambre's hand. "I'm Monica. I'm on holiday here from England."

"So is my date!" said Ambre excitedly. "Perhaps you know of 'im? Sirius Black?"

"Sirius Black?" breathed Monica horrified. "Oh dear Merlin."

"You _do_ know of 'im!" said Ambre. "'e is most 'andsome is 'e not? Come I will bring you to say 'ello."

Monica let Ambre lead her out of the bathroom, too shocked to tell Ambre that she most certainly did NOT want to tell Sirius Black hello. But then, she was in front of a table and Sirius was sitting faced away from her.

"Sirius!" cried Ambre. "Look who is 'ere!"

Sirius turned around and Monica's stomach dropped suddenly at the sight of how roguishly handsome he looked. Sirius was staring at her, horrified.

"Black," she said evenly.

"Longbottom. I've seen you've met Ambre."

"Yes, she's quite lovely."

Ambre beamed, not noticing the strain starting to show on the edges of Sirius and Monica's smiles. "Monica's dress is most becoming, don't you zink Sirius? What is ze name of ze designer?"

Sirius nodded wordlessly. His heart was going a mile a minute as he forced himself not to just jump and snog Monica senseless. He quite liked Ambre. And Monica wouldn't smack him _hard_ for even _thinking_ about snogging her. Or so he thought.

Monica tore her eyes away from the _interesting_ pattern of the carpet and confessed she didn't actually know the designer of her dress because it belonged to a friend.

Suddenly, someone walked up behind Monica and she saw Sirius' face darken.

"Gavin!" she said falsely happy, whirling around to face her date. "Look who's here!"

"Sirius, mate! How are you?" said Gavin clapping Sirius on the back.

"Fine." _You evil git. _

"FINE? You're in a beautiful restaurant with so many wonderful people! You should be dancing for joy!" said Gavin, grabbing Monica and whirling her around.

"Maybe we should go someplace else?" Monica whispered in Gavin's ear, eager to get away from Sirius and Ambre.

"Like the beach again? I love..."

"Yes. The beach. Let's go."

Gavin waved goodbye to Sirius and his "fair lady" and Monica and Gavin drove off.

* * *

"Gavin is soooo great!" gushed Monica for what was possibly the fifteenth time after she'd gotten back from her date. 

"WE KNOW!" shouted Hestia, Emmeline, and Lily throwing pillows at her.

"So what'd you think of him?" asked Monica eagerly bouncing up and down on the couch where the four girls were gathered listening to Monica retell every little detail of the date.

"Well he's...nice," stated Hestia.

She nudged Lily who nodded and added, "He's quite good-looking too."

"He's...interesting," said Hestia.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, you two! He's bloody eccentric is what he is!" screamed Emmeline.

"What do you mean?" asked Monica, frowning.

"He scares me is what I mean!" said Emmeline angrily. "You'd be better off with Sirius Black than with him!"

Emmeline gasped and covered her mouth, but it was too late.

"BLACK?!!" shrieked Monica, her face turning a brilliant scarlet. "You think I should date BLACK?"

"Monica, that's not what she meant..." began Lily.

"It is too what I meant!" said Emmeline fiercely. "He's completely head over heels in love with you and you won't even give him the time of day, despite the fact that you, Monica Almira Longbottom, fancy him too!"

"I can't believe this," said Monica, her voice low and dangerous. "I can't believe that my _best_ friend thinks I fancy that lowlife, arrogant jerk!"

"And I can't believe that my best friend refuses to see what's right in front of her eyes," stated Emmeline before storming into her bedroom and slamming the door.

* * *

Slight cliffieness, but not too bad right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as if Emmeline will be losing her quietness if Sirius and Monica keep this up. Am I right? I mean, somebody's gotta have the guts to yell at them for being so stupid! Please please send me prettyful reviews! **E.D.J. **


	15. A New Member of the Marauders

**Disclaimer**- Harry Potter is no more mine than the computer I'm writing on.

**Authoress' Note**- Hi! I must make this very quick because I need to study for English! Cheers! **E.D.J. **

**Thanks!**

**MagicFairyDuster**- Most cool name. Yes Sirius and Monica rock my socks!

**La Conquistadora**- Thanks!

**roguechick-**Glad you like the story!

**Padfoot Gone Girl**- Sorry about your evil computer!

**Amelia Blibson**- You are my newest favorite reviewer because you reviewed every chapter! Thanks! Glad you like the story!

* * *

**Ch. 15- A New Member**

"_Gavin is soooo great!" gushed Monica for what was possibly the fifteenth time after she'd gotten back from her date._

"_WE KNOW!" shouted Hestia, Emmeline, and Lily throwing pillows at her._

"_So what'd you think of him?" asked Monica eagerly bouncing up and down on the couch where the four girls were gathered._

"_Well he's...nice," stated Hestia. _

_She nudged Lily who nodded and added, "He's quite good-looking too."_

"_He's...interesting," said Hestia._

"_Oh for Merlin's sake, you two! He's bloody eccentric is what he is!" screamed Emmeline. _

"_What do you mean?" asked Monica, frowning._

"_He scares me is what I mean!" said Emmeline angrily. "You'd be better off with Sirius Black than with him!"_

_Emmeline gasped and covered her mouth, but it was too late._

"_BLACK?!!" shrieked Monica, her face turning a brilliant scarlet. "You think I should date BLACK?"_

"_Monica, that's not what she meant..." began Lily._

"_It is too what I meant!" said Emmeline fiercely. "He's completely head over heels in love with you and you won't even give him the time of day, despite the fact that you, Monica Almira Longbottom, fancy him too!" _

"_I can't believe this," said Monica, her voice low and dangerous. "I can't believe that my best friend thinks I fancy that lowlife, arrogant jerk!" _

"_And I can't believe that my best friend refuses to see what's right in front of her eyes," stated Emmeline before storming into her bedroom and slamming the door. _

Emmeline threw herself furiously onto her bed, still fuming. What in the name of...anything was wrong with Monica? Why was she so blind to something that was so plain and clear to Emmeline's own eyes? She pounded her pillow in frustration.

Emmeline had tried to deny the whole thing ever since Sirius Black had started "making eyes" at Monica at the beginning of fifth year. It wasn't hard to believe that he merely wanted her as a trophy, something he couldn't have or catch. But after the Potters' dinner party, Emmeline knew they had a connection. Sirius was Monica's equal in every way and quite frankly, the only person who had a chance at arguing against her. She _knew_ that Sirius' face lit up when Monica spoke to him and watched it fall slightly at the biting insults that followed. Emmeline had noticed how Monica had actually maintained a pleasant conversation with Sirius for most of the evening. And comforting Sirius? If what Monica always said was true, she wouldn't have touched Black with a twenty-foot pole, let alone her hand. But that evening, she'd voided her own statement. Monica didn't hate Sirius; she couldn't hate him. Emmeline had _seen _the look on Monica's face the moment Sirius had put his head on her shoulder, a look of surprise and amusement, but not anger. She'd _seen_ the struggle and horrified realization behind Monica's eyes, causing her to push him away again out of fear. Monica was so afraid of all her feelings. Also, Emmeline knew her friend would_ never_ go out with some random guy, but Monica was set on proving to herself that she did_ not_ fancy Sirius Black and going out with another guy was the way to do it.

Emmeline smiled wanly. The board was laid. The pieces were out. Moves had already begun to be played. Jealousy. Insults. Denial. Now all she had to do was help Sirius get rid of the king.

* * *

Monica gaped at her two remaining friends as Emmeline stormed in to her room. "Can you believe her?!" she demanded, an angry glint in her eye as she glared at them.

"Er..." began Lily.

"You agree with her don't you?" Monica spat.

"Not exactly," Lily stuttered, though she knew perfectly well Monica's wand was thrown someone amidst the clutter in her room.

"Not exactly?" repeated Monica, raising an eyebrow theatrically. "Lily, I have no patience for sidestepping answers at the moment."

"We agree with Emmeline about Gavin!" Hestia burst out. "We don't like him! We think he's completely mad and he's just scary!"

Lily looked utterly horrified at what Hestia had just done and quickly covered her eyes, unable to look at Monica.

"Gavin?" Monica said softly. "You have a problem with Gavin?"

Lily and Hestia nodded.

"Why?" She eyed her friends suspiciously.

"I don't know," Lily admitted. "I just wanted to shove 'the most wonderfully pointy eating utensil known as a fork' down his throat after he spent thirty minutes complimenting a _snail_."

"Actually, I realized it when that crab clawed him," said Hestia thoughtfully. "What kind of person _enjoys _pain anyway? The mad kind."

They looked up and the sound of a door slamming. Monica was gone.

"Oh no," whispered Hestia. "Oh no."

* * *

Sirius stumbled into the Potter house around 1:00 a.m., his face grim. When he reached the sitting room he shared with his friends, he saw that they were waiting for him.

"So... how was your date with Ambre?" asked James with a smug grin as he glanced at the time.

"S'good," said Sirius with a shrug.

"You're not telling us something," said Remus immediately, barely glancing up from his and Peter's game of Gobstones. "What happened?"

"Two words. Longbottom and Crazy." Sirius sighed and slumped into a chair.

"Actually that's three words," Peter quipped up. Sirius glared evilly at him, but exactly at that moment Peter was squirted with nasty smelling liquid from the Gobstones; hence, Sirius' thirst for revenge on Peter was sated.

"Alright why were Longbottom and _Gavin_ a problem? Didn't they have a date tonight? Unless they were... no..." Remus' eyes widened. "They weren't...they weren't...."

"There?" Sirius supplied helpfully. "Of course they were. It's just my blasted luck too."

"Sorry mate," said James, patting him on the back. "What'd you do?"

"Gaped like an idiot and then she got the hell out of there with that git," Sirius grumbled. "Then I rushed through dinner with Ambre and spied on them for _three_, immensely boring hours."

"You idiot," breathed Remus. "Why in the name of Merlin would you do that?! You're a stalker now?!"

"No..."

"Then why the hell did you think you needed to go spy on Monica and her date?!!!" Remus' face was livid now at his friend's utter stupidity.

"I don't know!" Sirius said, burying his head in his hands. "It's completely crazy and she would curse me into oblivion if she found out, but I can't stand the fact that she's dating that...that...git."

"You already used that insult, Padfoot," said Peter, which earned him an angry glare from Sirius and a Silencing Charm from James.

James paced the room. "So you ate dinner, spied on her, then where were you for the other two hours? We saw Longbottom come home at eleven!"

Sirius shrugged. "Just walking." Then he sighed loudly. "Prongs, I can't stay here anymore. It hurts too much and I can't stand it. I'm going to go back to Grimmauld Place for the rest of the holiday."

"No!" said James immediately, knowing what would be awaiting Sirius back at his home.

"Why not?" said Sirius skeptically. "There's nothing I can do, James. She hates me and I'm sick of it."

"Well..." said James, thinking fast. "Would you rather be stuck home miserable with _Regulus _or would you rather be miserable with your friends?"

"But she'll..."

"Padfoot, aren't you capable of handling a girl?" interrupted Remus. "Are you going to let Monica get the best of you and send you running home with your tail between your legs? Are you going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she got to you? If you leave, Monica wins."

Silence, but Remus' grin grew wider as he saw the angry, calculating look on Sirius' face, that he only got when his pride was hurt.

"I'll stay," Sirius sat down on the couch and crossed his arms. "But I _won't_ like it."

"That's alright," said James quickly. "As long as you stay."

"You know..." said Remus thoughtfully. "We really need a girl's perspective if you're set on fighting Gavin for Monica."

"Vance," said Sirius immediately.

His friends' eyebrows shot up skeptically.

"What?" said Sirius innocently. "Evans wouldn't come near James if we paid her and Jones is too neutral. Besides Vance thinks I'm _perfect_ for Longb... Monica."

Eyebrows went even higher.

"Are you sure that's what she said?" asked James. "This from the same girl who's barely said two words to anyone in five years?"

"She talks!" said Sirius defensively. "Vance is practically Remus, but a girl! Quiet and observant!"

"Bad mental image..." muttered Remus.

James still looked skeptical, but only said, "Let's talk to her in the morning."

* * *

Emmeline woke early and ate breakfast alone. She was determined to avoid her friends because Monica would surely start screaming at her again and Emmeline just couldn't take that again.

She stepped outside, quietly shutting the door behind her. She wasn't sure where she'd go, but was certain that she had to get out of the house. As she walked past the Potters', Emmeline heard someone shout her name.

"VANCE!"

The person seemed very unconcerned about the early hour or that most people were still sleeping, particularly since they were shouting.

Emmeline looked up and saw Sirius Black with his head stuck out an upstairs window. "What, Black?" she asked uncertainly.

"WE NEED YOUR ADVICE ABOUT LONGBOTTOM!" Sirius shouted down.

"YOU COULD START BY USING HER REAL NAME!" Emmeline bellowed back, annoyed.

"Will you please just come and help us?" begged Sirius. "We're desperate."

"Fine," said Emmeline flatly. "I'll do it."

Sirius let out a whoop of joy and consequently smacked his head against the top of the window. He let out a loud yelp of pain and Emmeline suppressed a grin. Remus pushed Sirius back inside where he could whine about how his head hurt and then stuck his own head outside. "I'll be down in a minute to let you in since Padfoot's currently indisposed and the other two have already slept through all this shouting!"

Emmeline laughed as he pulled his head back inside and shut the window. Moments later, the door opened and Remus ushered her inside.

"So..." said Remus as he led her upstairs. "Padfoot tells us that you think he's _perfect_ for Monica." He stopped halfway up and arched an eyebrow at her quizzically.

"I knew that'd come back to haunt me," moaned Emmeline, covering her face.

"So is it true?" he asked.

Emmeline's face colored. She mumbled something incoherent and pushed past him hurrying up the stairs.

Remus was too fast for her. He darted up and blocked her path. "Is it true?" he repeated, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Or else we may be here for awhile."

"Well not in those exact words."

"Then what did you say?" Remus demanded, a hint of a smile on his face.

"'I really think you'd be perfect for her, Sirius'!" groaned Emmeline. "I'm sure he's quite conceited about it, no doubt."

"He's immensely pleased," said Remus starting upward again and Emmeline followed. "It got him over his little run-in with Monica."

"What run-in?" asked Emmeline, her eyes widening.

"Last night, Sirius and his date ran into her and Gavin at a restaurant?" said Remus. "Didn't she tell you?"

"No," said Emmeline flatly. "She was too busy gushing over her evening with Mr. Pain is Wonderful."

Remus chuckled. "His a bit over the edge isn't he?"

"A bit?" said Emmeline. "You'd think he's eaten about fifty Levitating Sherbet Balls!"

They continued a running list of Gavin's very annoying quirks and by the time Remus opened the door to the Marauders' sitting room they were laughing hysterically and Emmeline was leaning against him for support.

"Well, well..." said Sirius smugly as they entered with Emmeline practically hanging off of Remus. "I'd expected you two to hurry on up, but I see you were _occupied_."

"Oh don't insinuate anything, Black," said Emmeline, rolling her eyes as she removed her arm from Remus' shoulder. "We were _laughing_."

"Laughing, snogging, there's not much difference is there, eh Moony?" said Sirius grinning at his friend.

"Padfoot, you are completely and utterly mad," mumbled Remus, his ears quite red. "We weren't doing anything."

"Right..."

Remus muttered something that ended in "prat" and went to drag Peter and James out of bed for this most interesting of meetings.

He soon returned with the two very tired looking boys in tow.

"Padfoot, why are _you_ awake?" muttered James, rubbing his eyes. "You're never up early."

Sirius shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Did you bring the stuff?"

James, Peter, and Remus nodded solemnly and Peter held up a small bag.

"What 'stuff'?" said Emmeline suddenly afraid. "You aren't going to use me as a test subject for some prank of yours, are you? If that's what it is, I may have to get Lily and Monica to come to this little 'meeting' to curse your arses."

Sirius and James' faces when slightly pale, but Remus shook his head and said, "No, the stuff is for you initiation."

"My initiation?"

"You're going to become an honorary Marauder!" said Sirius excitedly. "Temporarily of course. We aren't looking for full-time members at the moment."

"Alright..."

Peter handed the bag solemnly to James and he pulled out a small colorfully wrapped object. "You must eat the Cockroach Cluster."

All four of the Marauders shuddered collectively as Emmeline took the sweet from James with raised eyebrows.

"All I have to do is eat this?" asked Emmeline.

"Unless you would prefer to dance around while waving a rubber chicken," said Remus.

Emmeline snorted loudly. "Sirius did that, didn't he?"

"Of course!" said Sirius indignantly. "It was more interesting."

"I'll opt for the Cockroach Cluster," said Emmeline, popping the sweet into her mouth and grimacing slightly as she swallowed.

"She is a Marauder!" shouted Sirius, lighting a Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Firework with a match and letting it loose inside the room in celebration.

* * *

Always knew the Marauders were a little odd. -grins- Review!** E.D.J.**


	16. Reflections

**Disclaimer**- Don't own anything...brain exploding with overexcitement! 

**Authoress' Note**- Hello! How are you all? Missed me? I apologize for the lack of humor in the chapter, but you'll see why it's necessary by the end. I can't think of anything to say just read AND review! You can do two things for little old me, can't you? **E.D.J.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Amelia Blibson**- I'm glad you liked Lily's line about shoving a fork down Gavin's throat! I found that line most amusing too!

**La Conquistadora**- Glad you love the idea of Emmeline has a Marauder! Guess what? I'm almost done with the first Protector of the Small book! I'll probably pull a Conquistadora (yeah we can call it that instead of your actual name) and be up till 2:00 a.m. reading it! Actually I don't think I have that much left so maybe just 11:00 p.m! I have the 2nd one too (the one you skipped you evil conquering book skipper!) so maybe I'll finish that one too but I doubt it! Ack just writing to you makes "Sir Robin ran away... bravely ran away away..." start playing in my head! Sigh... we're quite sad be able to quote nearly all of Monty Python, but it's entertaining!

**MagicFairyDuster**- I'm glad you love Sirius! He's most loveable, but I do love Remus more because he's just too sarcastic and dreamy for his own good!

**Professor D.S. Silvers**-Glad you like the chapter! Hope you get everything in your account fixed soon!

**hilaryous**- Glad you liked it!

**abi freeman**- I'm so glad you think this is easy to read, effortless, and entertaining! Three compliments in one review! Yay!

* * *

**Ch. 16- Reflections**

Monica lay on her bed listlessly like she had been for the better part of the week since her date with Gavin. She still was not speaking to Emmeline, who conveniently hadn't been around much anyway. Monica was still fuming from Lily and Hestia's judgments against to Gavin too, but she _had _said a few chose words to them each time they knocked on her door, inquiring if she was alright. They'd given up after a few days and Emmeline apparently didn't give a damn if Monica hadn't stepped outside her room in a little less than seven days.

She sighed and continued watching memories flick beneath her eyelids.

The things I do for entertainment now, she sighed.

Monica was on the train to Hogwarts again.

_Ok does anyone care about Sirius' comfort level?" asked Peter, glancing around._

_No one raised his or her hand._

"_I fell so unloved!" complained Sirius, his eyes bright with (completely fake) unshed tears._

"_Oh give it a rest Black!" snapped Monica, throwing a copy of Witch Weekly at him._

"_Oh touchy," observed Sirius. "I wouldn't mind be loved by you, Mon!"_

_He scooted closer to Monica._

"_I feel so honored," said Monica sarcastically. "Geroff Black!"_

_She shoved Sirius away from her and he backed off, looking forlorn._

"_Rejection, it hurts," stated Remus with a slight smile._

She grinned slightly at the blow to Black's ego. He could be such an annoying dolt. She focused on the next picture that formed in her mind.

"_Hey Hest..." began James, recognizing his schoolmate. Then he glanced past Hestia and saw who was standing behind her._

"_Bloody hell no!" he yelled jumping backwards and knocking into Sirius._

_Sirius yelped and moved away from James rubbing his injured shoulder._

_He looked up at the doorway and swore loudly saying, "All four of them HERE!"_

_Sirius rubbed his eyes muttering, "I MUST be having a nightmare! Wake up! Wake up!"_

_He opened his eyes. The girls were still standing there with very annoyed looks expressions on their faces. _

_Sirius groaned and slumped to the ground swearing colorfully under his breath as Monica met his eyes and gave him a venomous glare. Sirius glared back and stuck his tongue out at her._

"_Childish prick," Monica muttered._

Exactly. Black had to be more immature than the entire first-year class put together.

"_So Mon..." said Sirius casually, "seeing anyone at the moment?"_

"_Of course! I can see James, Lily, Emmeline, Remus, Peter, me, and you! I'm not blind you know!" snapped Monica, deliberately twisting Sirius' question. "I wish I couldn't see you though."_

_She gritted her teeth and focused on keeping herself from punching Sirius in the face._

"_Touché Mon," replied Sirius dryly. "Side-stepped that one didn't we?"_

"_Clearly," muttered Monica through clenched teeth._

And him asking her out every moment he got a chance? Didn't he know the meaning of the word "no"? She'd finally taken to avoiding the question entirely and skipping to her using various insults and threats against him, which didn't seem to have had an effect at all. Monica could feel the anger and resentment begin welling up inside her, threatening to burst forth in a string of filthy words and hexes even though there was no one in the room to curse. Monica sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly.

Against her will, she suddenly focused on a memory that was entirely different.

"_So Mon, how are you?" asked Sirius, flashing her a winning smile as he sat down next to her._

"_Lovely just lovely!" said Monica, her face grim._

"_So I was wondering..."_

_Monica scowled. "Can we just skip to the part where I tell you to sod off and to never bother me again, Black?"_

_Sirius laughed. "But perhaps you won't want me to sod off, what then?"_

_Monica sighed. "Alright what were you wondering?"_

"_Er..." said Sirius. "I was wondering... when you thought we'd get our O.W.L.s results?"_

_Monica was taken aback. No sickening charm? No asking her out? Very suspicious. What was his angle?_

"_Uh... my guess would be mid July?" said Monica warily. "Why do care anyway? I thought your perfect self was above such mediocre concerns like O.W.L.s."_

Oh damn! Did I just say he was perfect! Ewww... Why am I so daft?

_Monica sat wincing, waiting for Black's insinuating comment.  
_

None came. "_Quite the contrary, Miss Longbottom. I am very concerned about my O.W.L.s."_

"_Really?" said Monica, raising an eyebrow._

"_Of course," said Sirius, sitting down next to her. "They're what decided my future and I am very concerned about my future career."_

_Monica rolled her eyes. "That's a load of bull and you know it."_

"_Ok you caught me," said Sirius, raising his hands in defeat. "I don't give a damn about the future and I'm only a bit concerned about my future career. I like the here and now."_

"_I knew it," said Monica smugly. "Though it would have been quite convincing from someone else. Well played."_

_She stuck out her hand for him to shake._

_Sirius grasped her hand and kissed it lightly. _

_What the...? Monica thought._

_She quickly pulled her hand away and felt her face go red._

Monica felt her face heat up again at the mere thought. Angrily, she pinched herself and the wave of emotion past, but slowly. She had just been in the moment, Monica told herself sternly. It could happen to anybody.

She threw up a barrier against any further thoughts and stood up shaking her head to clear it. Glancing in the mirror, Monica frowned at her pale skin and stringy blonde hair, realizing what a mess she looked.

Instantly, she began digging in her trunk for a bottle of shampoo and clean clothes. Then making her way to the bathroom to clean up, she tripped over a stiletto that had been thrown haphazardly on the floor and her concentration broke. Memories swarmed over her and Monica fell to her knees, clutching her head in frustration.

I need a Pensieve, she moaned as a wave of emotion washed over and Monica was swept up in her own thoughts again.

_Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Bla...Sirius. Everyone knows your family has more money than Hestia and James' combined." _

_Sirius eyes darkened a bit. "Yeah, but a whole lot of good it does them. They're still slimy pureblood gits no matter how much money they have."_

_Monica heard and saw the change in Sirius and patted his hand without thinking. "Sirius, Lily just meant that..." It was surprising how she had no difficulty calling him Sirius when they were all forced to use each other's first names._

The scene quickly changed again and a cry escaped Monica's mouth as she tried to block it out.

"_Longbottom!" Sirius panted finding her surprised face within the group. "We're..." He trailed off, noticing the guy who had his arm wrapped around Monica's shoulders. "Uh...leaving," he said quickly. "Lunch."_

"_Alright Black," said Monica casually, standing up. The guy stood up too. Seeing Sirius' red face, she suppressed a smirk and added, "Oh and this is Gavin. We're going out tomorrow night." _

"_Out?" asked Sirius disbelievingly. _

"_Yes, going out Black," said Monica, rolling her eyes. "Do you need us to spell it out for you?"  
_

"_No that won't be necessary, thanks," muttered Sirius gruffly._

Hurt showed in Sirius' grey eyes and Monica's heart went out to him as she watched him try to shake it off. The rigid set of his back made it seem as if Sirius was trying to keep from slumping over in defeat. A cold, hard glint had settled in his eyes too as he turned away from her and trotted down the beach, deliberately staying a few feet in front of her and Gavin. The memory shifted yet again.

_Monica shook Ambre's hand. "I'm Monica. I'm on holiday here from England." _

"_So is my date!" said Ambre excitedly. "Perhaps you know of 'im? Sirius Black?"_

"_Sirius Black?" breathed Monica horrified. "Oh dear Merlin." _

"_You do know of 'im!" said Ambre. "'e is most 'andsome is 'e not? Come I will bring you back to say 'ello." _

_Monica let Ambre lead her out of the bathroom, too shocked to tell Ambre that she most certainly did NOT want to tell Sirius Black hello. But then, she was in front of a table and Sirius was sitting faced away from her._

"_Sirius!" cried Ambre. "Look who is 'ere!" _

_Sirius turned around and Monica's stomach dropped suddenly at the sight of how roguishly handsome he looked. Sirius was staring at her, horrified._

"_Black," Monica said evenly. _

"_Longbottom. I've seen you've met Ambre."_

"_Yes, she's quite lovely."_

_Ambre beamed, not noticing the strain starting to show on the edges of Sirius and Monica's smiles. "Monica's dress is most becoming, don't you zink Sirius? What is ze name of ze designer?"_

_Sirius nodded wordlessly. _

_Monica tore her eyes away from the interesting pattern of the carpet and confessed she didn't actually know the designer of her dress because it belonged to a friend. _

_Suddenly, someone walked up behind Monica and she saw Sirius' face darken. _

"_Gavin!" she said falsely happy, whirling around to face her date. "Look who's here!" _

"_Sirius, mate! How are you?" said Gavin clapping Sirius on the back. _

"_Fine." _

"_FINE? You're in such a beautiful restaurant with so many wonderful people! You should be dancing for joy!" said Gavin, grabbing Monica and whirling her around. _

Monica stood, watching the scene, as Gavin and her memory self twirled around. She glanced at Sirius and noticed the hard line that had become his mouth. It was the same look Monica herself got when she was trying to hold back a string of curses or angry words. This strained expression of restraint had never appeared on Sirius' face before. He always seemed to speak his mind, but here he was holding himself back for her sake, to not able to disturb her happiness.

Her memory seemed to draw up pictures of Sirius and Gavin and Monica felt a wave of anguish flow over her at the thought of what she was doing. She was _comparing _Gavin, the loveable, but, she had to admit, crazy one and _Sirius_, the bloke with more girls attached to him than could ever be thought possible. Monica had vowed never to be one of those girls, but what was she doing now? _Debating_ between the guy who she'd thought she'd despised and a nutcase who needed some kind of containment spell to keep his mouth shut and to keep him from jumping off buildings in attempt "to fly like the pretty birdies".

Monica breathed in and out, trying to clear her muddled thoughts. Why did this happen? When did she start fancying Sirius bloody Black? It certainly hadn't happened overnight and she was certain she'd hated him during the whole of fifth year. What had changed? Did she change? Did he change? Monica had no idea. All she knew was that she had to do something about it.

With that, she picked herself up off the floor and, with one last shuttering gasp, strode out the door, head held high.

* * *

Oh...oh... I'm practically screaming with glee! -screams with glee- She's realized it, she's finally realized! BUT... what will Sirius do is the real question? Who wants to know, anybody? I know it was a LOT of flashbacks, but I hope the in-between-stuff was good enough for you guys!Review and I'll update when I find to write the next installment! -scream of glee- **E.D.J.**


	17. Steps Foward?

**Disclaimer**- O magic genie can it be mine? Damn he said no.

**Authoress' Note**- Aren't I the most loveliest updater? I feel so proud of myself though I confess that I may have written it more for my own anxiousness and curiosity than you readers. Yes, I don't have this prewritten (I used to but it died out a long time ago and I kind of dislike the idea of greedily holding chapters that you can't read yet) and I also don't really have much of the plot planned out (Gasp!). My fics are starting to turn whimsical because I don't have the time to iron out every detail on two fics (I do have a basic outline for Seven Years of Marauding though it IS just in my head) because I'm still trying frantically to get more of my book manuscript written because my editor (unofficial of course, a.k.a My lovely friend who I owe so much to) is catching up to me in sections that she's read over! I apologize for the chapter's shortness, but I really really have to get my math homework and my review responses done! Send some lovely reviews! **E.D.J.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**TheLovelyLadyLily**- I"m glad you liked the chapter! Was this a soon enough update for you? B.T.W. I had a most lovely and entertaining review written for the first chapter of your fic, but I think it disappeared while I was writing it or someone closed it, I can't quite remember, but it IS something to mourn. I'll send you some new reviews as soon as I get the chance!

**abi freeman**- I'll answer your questions from the review I sent you once you post your next chapter. (Yes I will TRY to read it, but I truly can't promise anything!) I'm glad you like the story though!

**blinkgurl017**- Let's see chapter 15... Monica got angry at Lily and Hestia for not liking Gavin... The Marauders realized they need a girl's perspective if they are ever going to be able to get Sirius/Monica to happen... and Emmeline became an "honorary Marauder"! Yes in my opinion, Gavin is the character you think is funny, but you hate him to pieces because he's in the way.

**MagicFairyDuster**- Glad you liked the chapter! Yes Remus...sarcastic sweetheart...-drools- Oops sorry, went off into Harry Potter dream world for a second!

**brooklyngirl**- Merlin you like Monty Python AND Tamora Pierce? AND apparently Harry Potter? I must confess I only recently became obsessed with both of them (my friend La Conquistadora has seen the movies and read most of the books before me). I've only seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which I only just saw in August) but I think I can quote it almost nearly as well as my conquering friend (with due credits to her of course for making many of the quotes stick in my head). And yes since about last year, I've read the entire Song of the Lioness and the Immortals Quartet, the first two Protector of the Small (I really really really want to get to the library for the last two and isn't Neal DREAMY? His most entertaining line is clearly, "You are a bloody-minded savage. I hope you are kidnapped by centaurs." from the Page book. I have no idea why, but that line struck me as the most hilarious thing ever!) Yes, your friends are seriously seriously deprived of both of these. Have you read the Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen books too about Alanna's daughter Aly? MOST good books. And it's so interesting that you chose those particular Monty Python quotes for your review! La Conquistadora and I were writing quotes on our hands today at a soccer game (hey soccer's boring) and when I read your review I was like, "Oh my gosh! I have 'Go away before I taunt you a second time.' written on my hand right now!" Coincidence? Sadly no hamsters and elderberries, but I also have "I blow my nose at you, you silly English kinnigets (how the heck do you spell that?)!" Conquistadora I remember had the "Go and boil your bottoms" one and I can't remember if she had something else! Long review, but sooooo worth it!

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**  
Ch. 17- Steps Forward? **

"Excellent," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "It's perfect."

Emmeline gave him a long look down her nose, looking not unlike Remus, before snatching the sheet of parchment from Sirius' hands. She spread it across the table and Emmeline, Remus, James, and Peter leaned forward to examine it.

"Padfoot," said James slowly, after a long moment of staring at the parchment. "This _isn't_ a plan to help you with Longbottom. It's a drawing of a hippocampus."

"A very bad one at that," added Peter. "See you got the tail all wrong and don't even get me started on the mane! It's..."

He trailed off as Sirius shot him a withering look.

"Anyway..." said Remus, clearing his throat. "Does anyone actually have any ideas?"

Only Emmeline raised her hand.

Remus grinned at her. "As always the brunt of the work falls on our poor swotty souls as we wait in the midst of..."

"Don't go all philosophical on us, Moony," moaned James, covering his ears. "I doubt even Vance wants to hear you prattle on about only Merlin knows what, eh Vance?" He nudged Emmeline and grinned.

Remus grimaced.

All that came from Emmeline was a muttering of "typical," and a very cold glare in James' direction.

"Excuse me?" asked James, taken aback.

"I said it was 'typical'," repeated Emmeline, looking livid. "Typical that the fact that Remus was quoting _me_ from a few days ago hasn't gotten through your thick skull yet. Typical that you tune me out the second I begin speaking about something meaningful, but you're still are interested in Sirius' damn hippocampus drawing!" She snatched the picture from James' hands and passed it to Remus who pocketed it.

James gaped and managed to stutter out, "But... I didn't mean... You don't think I'd..." He buried his head in his hands, muffling a slight groan.

"Blimey, you got him into that indignant stuttering stage," observed Sirius with a chuckle. "Usually his mum's the only one to get Jamesie so... distraught."

"Why aren't you a prefect?" asked Peter, wide-eyed. "Anyone who can tell off James Potter and his 'band of miscreants' would have McGonagall's vote."

Emmeline shrugged, grinning slightly. "I think Lily makes up for morethan enough of you fours' well deserved telling-offs." She glanced at James who was still muttering into his hands. She sighed. "Sirius, please calm him down. Those curses he's mumbling are getting _most _annoying."

"Yes dearest," said Sirius obediently, going over to James and shaking him a number times until he shut up.

"Mission accomplished," said Sirius, winking at Emmeline.

Both she and Remus rolled their eyes.

"Are these two made for each other or what?" said Sirius, slinging an arm around Emmeline and Remus who both moaned audibly. "Identical eye-rolls!" Sirius pretended to wipe away a tear. "What could make them more perfect?"

"Maybe both of us kicking your arse?" hissed Remus, his face red.

"Point taken," said Sirius agreeably, releasing Emmeline and Remus from the death grip he had on their shoulders.

"Back to my idea," said Emmeline, patches of pink showing on her cheeks. She threw a sideways glance at Remus and was delighted to see he was making an obscene gesture at Sirius who simply rolled his eyes and made an equally obscene, if not more so, gesture back. "Sirius!" she snapped. "Focus! Do you want your damn woman's perspective or not?" Sirius instantly stopped making faces at Remus and hung his head shamefully. "Now, here's what we have to do..."

* * *

Lily and Hestia were playing an intense game of wizards' chess in Hestia's room when a loud banging began on the door and a frantic cry of, "Em? EM?" 

Hestia stopped her rook mid-move and went to answer it. It was Monica in a frenzied state of disarray, wearing three-days-old clothes and her hair was limp and unkempt. "Mon, what are you...?" began Hestia, but Monica just pushed past her with a hurried apology.

"Em?" she said again, glancing nervously around the room. "Where's Emmeline!"

"Speaking to us then?" asked Hestia dryly.

Monica didn't answer, but began tearing around, searching the room and even taking the liberty of checking under the bed. "Where is she?" Monica repeated again, her eyes wide with terror.

"She said she fancied a walk," said Lily, propping herself up on her elbows to squint at Monica. "Merlin, Mon. You look _awful_."

"Yeah sure, I'd love to, Lils," said Monica distractedly, running a nervous hand through her hair. "Did...did Em say when she'd be back? I'm having a bit of breakdown."

"Why can't you talk to us?" demanded Hestia, hands on her hips.

"I just can't!" said Monica, angry tears glittering on her cheeks. "I'll...I'll just wait for her to get back."

"Oh no you don't!" said Lily dangerously. "You're not leaving until you tell us _exactly_ what's going on."

She and Hestia slowly advanced on Monica, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Monica bolted out the door and her two friends darted after her. The three girls thundered down the stairs. Monica quickly took a hard left and dashed down the hallway leading to the housekeeper's rooms. She panted heavily as she ran and, to her horror, it was a dead end. Lily and Hestia quickly caught up to her and each snatched up one of her arms. The two of them had to drag her into the living room.

"Damn the person who made up the law against underage wizardry," muttered Hestia, gritting her teeth. "Magic would have made that so much easier."

Lily nodded tiredly as they settled Monica on the sofa. Monica only let out a soft whimper and tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"Monica Almira Longbottom," said Hestia dangerously. "If you don't tell us what's wrong _this_ instant, we'll be forced to..." She glanced at Lily for help.

"Get Black to come pester you," supplied Lily.

Monica let out an indignant squeak, but remained closemouthed.

"We will... tell your mum and dad that you blew up your mum's favorite hat!" said Hestia.

Monica raised an eyebrow slightly and merely shook her head.

"The Amos Diggory thing?" asked Hestia, glancing at Lily.

Monica just shook her head.

Several hours later, they were still pleading with Monica.

"We'll tell your mum and dad, you failed that one History of Magic test in..." Lily stopped and threw up her hands. "What's the point?"

"I hate your little 'determined streak'," grumbled Hestia. "What if we burn all of your dress robes?"

Monica shook her head and sighed audibly.

Just then, the front door opened and Emmeline quietly slipped inside. When she noticed her friends staring at her, she winced guilty. "I..." she thought carefully, not wanting to reveal that she'd been scheming with the Marauders. "Met a bloke on the beach? Yes, I met a bloke on the beach!" Emmeline voice became noticeably high-pitched. "Yes, we walked and talked, it was wonderful until I saw the time. How was your night?"

"Monica won't tell us why she's in near hysterics!" whined Hestia. "We've been trying to get it out of her for _hours_."

Emmeline slowly walked into the room, surveying Monica's pale, tear-streaked face and disorderly hair and clothes. "What happened?" she asked slowly.

"I REALIZED I FANCIED SIRIUS BLACK!" shrieked Monica. Her hands instantly flew over her mouth, but the damage was already done.

"WHAT!" shrieked Hestia and Lily, horrified.

"Merlin," said Emmeline simply, a slow smile spreading across her face. "I knew it."

Monica whirled on her three friends, her face a blotchy shade of purple. "If you tell him _anything _I swear I'll..." She trailed off.

"Burn all your dress robes?" suggested Hestia with a small smile.

All Monica managed was a terrific moan before she slumped down on the sofa, head in her hands.

Emmeline sat down next to her and put an arm around her comfortingly. "Mon, I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out. We'll help you tell him..."

"No," said Monica suddenly.

"What?" asked her friends.

"He...he just wants me for...for a trophy girl and I swore...I swore I'd never be that to _anyone_," Monica managed, trembling slightly. She stood up, swaying slightly. "I can't do anything about it unless..." She gulped. "Unless I can tell he wants something more."

So close, thought Emmeline, moaning internally. I guess we'll need my plan after all.

* * *


	18. Emmeline, The Girl Who Helps All

**Disclaimer- **Oh how I wish it were mine! I'll keep dreaming.

**Authoress' Note- **Forgive the lack of updating! I wrote furiously to finish this and has luck would have it FanFiction decided to disable the login in option for two days! AND it wasn't letting me upload this and I was afraid I'd have to upload this later today or (the HORROR) Saturday (yes going out of town for turkey day tomorrow until Saturday! PARTY!) This chapter was extremely fun to write! Not much else to say! **E.D.J. **

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Blinkgurl017**- Glad you liked all the relationship developments in the last chapter!

**Brooklyngirl**- Yes Neal, yum, George, yum, Numair, yum, Nawat (from Trickster's Choice and Queen), yum. Nope, I won't hate you for giving me quotes from books I haven't read yet. I'll forget them all anyway until I read it and go "Hey! That's one of the one's Brooklyngirl said!" Anyway, I would prefer my reviews carried by African swallows since 'A five ounce bird, could not carry a one pound coconut!' Don't how that logic works, but heh. Glad you loved Sirius and his hippocampus picture!

**TheLovelyLadyLily**- Yay! I got recommended to other people! –grins- Glad you liked Sirius hippocampus picture!

**La Conquistadora**- You and your pookas… Anyway I don't think you should be trying to kill elephants with stones. You may get trampled by their gimungous (hey I made a cool word with giant and humongous) feet though I would laugh hysterically if that happened and then I probably would be trampled too because I'd be laughing so hard and wouldn't move out of the way in time. So yeah. I don't wish to be trampled, so don't throw the stones at the elephants in the first place. THIS IS ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROPHECY!

* * *

**Ch. 18- Emmeline, The Girl Who Helps All**

After Monica's tear-filled confession, the only thing anyone could think to do was to go to bed. All except Emmeline. She'd been in the sitting room, scratching furiously on a sheet of parchment for close to four hours now. The plan had to be fixed now that she knew Monica did indeed fancy Sirius, but she was having trouble doing it.

Emmeline sighed and pushed back her hair from her face, listening for the soft crying that had filled the air all night. Yes, Monica was still at it. Emmeline sighed deeply and stood up. She walked over to Monica's room and quietly knocked on the door.

"Monica, can I come in?" Emmeline asked.

All she heard was loud sniffling, so she pushed the door open.

Monica lay on her bed, unmoving as Emmeline took in the disarray in the room. Broken quills, ripped parchment, and, for some reason, a large amount of Bertie Bott's Beans lay strewn across Monica's floor. Emmeline sighed and sat down on the bed next to Monica.

"Mon, do you want to talk?" asked Emmeline, grimacing at the look of her friend's unkempt hair.

No response.

"I'm not leaving until you say something," said Emmeline firmly.

"Fine," said Monica flatly, her voice muffled by her pillow. "Go away."

"Well played, Mon," said Emmeline, grinning slightly. "Will you please talk to me?"

Monica shook her head and loud sobbing soon filled the air again.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," groaned Emmeline. She grabbed Monica by the shoulders and yanked her into a sitting position. "Mon," said Emmeline slowly and deliberately. "Get a hold of yourself."

Monica only began crying harder.

Emmeline pulled Monica to her feet and half-carried her over to the mirror. "Monica," said Emmeline determinedly, pulling her friend's hands away from her eyes. "_Look _at yourself! You look as if someone's told you you're engaged to marry Voldemort!"

Monica gasped at the mention of the killer's name, but Emmeline merely rolled her eyes and pointed furiously at the mirror. Monica slowly lifted her head to look in the mirror then covered her eyes once more, wishing she hadn't.

Her skin was pallid and waxy looking after not venturing outside for so long and her blonde hair was limp and greasy. Her body looked diminished and malnourished somehow and Monica supposed it was from surviving on Bertie Bott's Beans for the past week. Not exactly nutritional despite the variety of flavors. She moaned and slumped to the ground.

"Em? What's happened to me?" Monica asked, her voice noticeably high-pitched in fear.

"Oh Mon," said Emmeline, hugging her. "You're just upset. It's a big shock, but it's not the end of the world. You're not being forced to marry him or anything. You don't even have to date him if you don't want to, but if you just forget it and never act on your feelings, you'll spend forever wondering what could have happened."

Monica nodded and asked, "Can I break it off with Gavin, but not pursue Bla…Sirius? Can't I just have time to think?"

"Of course," said Emmeline, wincing slightly as she thought of her and the Marauders' plans to make Monica and Sirius happen.

* * *

Early the next morning, Lily was woken by a series of loud raps against her window. Groggily, she slipped on her dressing gown and craned her head out to see what the hell had woken her up. 

"EVANS?!" came an astounded voice from below her.

A sinking feeling filled Lily and she slowly looked down. Sure enough, it was James Potter she saw standing below her window, holding a handful of seashells he'd been throwing against her window, and looking quite red in the face.

"What are doing, Potter?" demanded Lily. "Do you know how early it is?"

James merely quirked an eyebrow at her, but said nothing.

Lily sighed. "Please Potter. I'm not in the mood for your annoying antics. What do you want?"

James unconsciously ran a hand through his hair, exhorting an annoyed look from Lily. "I was erm…actually looking for Emmeline. Could you get her for me?"

"Alright…" said Lily, confused. She turned around and went in search of Emmeline.

She found her asleep on the sofa in the sitting room, a crumpled sheet of parchment clasped in her hands. Lily shook Emmeline awake and asked, "What the hell are you doing with James Potter?"

"Jealous, are we?" said Emmeline, stretching her arms above her head as she yawned. "And if you'd liked to know, we've been having mind-blowing snogs on the beach for the past two weeks now."

"WHAT?!" shrieked Lily.

"Kidding, Lils," said Emmeline, holding up her hands.

Lily huffed and sat down on the sofa next to Emmeline with her arms crossed. "Not funny."

"For someone who hates the poor boy to bits, you sure are concerned about who he's snogging at the moment," Emmeline observed smugly.

"Em…" said Lily, gritting her teeth. "You know that's not true. I'm only concerned about your well being."

"Then why the sudden assumption that he's doing something with me?" asked Emmeline.

"Because the damn prat's standing outside my window asking for you!" snapped Lily. "That's why!"

"Oh bloody hell," mumbled Emmeline. "No wonder you're throwing a fit."

"I am not throwing a…"

Emmeline shoved a pillow in Lily's face, cutting off her angry retort.

"I have to go," said Emmeline, not even bothering to change her clothes for a meeting with four blokes even if… no she wouldn't think of that now.

"Why? What are you doing?" asked Lily suspiciously.

"Oh, Potter made me promise I'd help him with our summer Potions homework," said Emmeline, lying smoothly. "That's the only reason I can fathom why he'd be here. Unless he's looking for a random snog. In that case, I'll whack him hard for you, alright?"

"Good," said Lily firmly. "I think I'll go back to bed. Tell him to ring the bell in the future, but Merlin, please let there not be future visits from him."

With that, Lily walked back into her room, still muttering under her breath.

Emmeline grinned inwardly and thundered down the stairs, eager to inform the Marauders of her new plans. When she opened the front door, James suddenly appeared on the ground, halfway inside the house. She realized he'd been leaning against the door and had fallen over.

"Nice, Potter," she said smugly as she helped him up. "Real smart."

"Why did I have to get the wrong window?" James groaned. "How angry was she?"

"Pretty angry," said Emmeline thoughtfully. She grinned. "Especially after I told her about all our mind-blowing snogs."

"Our mind-blowing what?" yelped James. "You and I haven't ever…"

"Of course we haven't," said Emmeline, waving her hand dismissively. "And we _never_ will!" she shouted, noticing the odd look on his face. "Stop picturing it!"

She kicked James hard in the shins and he yelped in pain. "Thank you," said Emmeline primly. "Now the point is, after I told her _that_, she went completely bonkers and I reckon she does, how do I put this, have 'a bit of a soft spot' for you."

"Really?" said James, wide-eyed. "That _is_ interesting."

"Now James," said Emmeline sternly. "We're supposed to be focusing on Sirius and Monica right now."

"Yeah, yeah," said James absently, an ecstatic look on his face.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, come on!" snapped Emmeline, dragging him by the arm back to his house. "I shouldn't have said anything!"

When they'd reached the house, Emmeline was boiling mad at James' inability to walk and she rapped on the door, exasperated.

The door opened and Sirius, Remus, and Peter greeted her enthusiastically. Emmeline mumbled a hello and pushed James into the house.

"Now one of you will need to help with _that_," said Emmeline, pointing at James who stood stock-still where she'd left him, a dreamy look in his eyes.

"What's with Prongs?" asked Sirius as he and Peter swung James' arms over their shoulders.

"He's mooning over Lily," said Emmeline with a sigh. "I made the slight mishap of telling him I thought she might fancy him a little and he just turned into a soppy mess."

"You should have seen him after she accidentally thanked him for something," said Remus as they made their way up the stairs. "We couldn't get a coherent word out of him for three days."

"Lovely," said Emmeline. "I wonder how long he'll stay in a stupor this time."

When they finally reached the upstairs sitting room and had dosed James with cold water until he was in a somewhat present mental state, Emmeline drew her plan out of her pocket.

"Alright," she said firmly. "Due to recent events, which I am sworn not to reveal, I've made some changes to the plan. Sirius, you're going to have to become a one-woman man right now, if you want this to work. That means no dates, no snogs, no one-night stands, or anything else you might do with a girl. You're completely and utterly single now. If that's too hard for you, tough luck. You'll never date Monica otherwise."

Sirius made a slight cry of outrage, but then he nodded solemnly, knowing Emmeline was right.

"Also Sirius, no fake charm, wit, nothing. Be yourself. Monica will see right through everything else," stated Emmeline.

"Don't come on too strong either," advised Remus. "It'll give her the wrong idea."

"Ambre?" asked Sirius, somehow recalling the name of the girl he'd frequently been seeing the past week.

"Get rid of her," said Emmeline firmly. "You don't expect Monica to let you have a little fling on the side while your dating, do you?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Now our first mission was to break up Gavin and Monica, correct?" said Remus, glancing at Emmeline's sheet of parchment. "Is that still on?"

Emmeline shrugged slightly, choosing her words carefully, so as not to break her promise to Monica. "I'm not sure. I don't think she's entirely happy with Gavin, so she may break it off with him without our help. If she doesn't do it, I'm sure a few words about him will nudge her in the right direction."

"Excellent," said Sirius evilly, steepling his fingers. "I can't wait."

"Me either," piped up Peter. "Last time I saw him he kept telling me, 'Do you know how utterly fabulous your arse looks in those pants?' It was the creepiest thing."

All four boys shuddered collectively.

"I can see that particular door swinging both ways," said James thoughtfully, coming out of his Lily coma for a moment.

"You know it's a bit disturbing to hear you three contemplating the sexuality of Monica's boyfriend," said Emmeline smoothly. "Someone might start to think one of you fancies him."

That shut them up.

"Now," said Sirius, clearing his throat in a very manly way. "Do we commence with the plan today?"

"We'd have to plan something with the girls then," added Remus. "I don't know how it would work otherwise."

All four boys looked expectantly at Emmeline.

She sighed exasperatedly and stood up. "I'll make something up and get us all over here by noon or so."

"Great," said Sirius.

"Well if I have to spend hours trying to convince a bunch of girls, two of whom hate you four, to pay a visit over here, I'd better get started," said Emmeline, rolling up their plan parchment. "See you."

"I'll walk you downstairs," offered Remus, standing up.

He and Emmeline started toward the staircase and Sirius called, "Don't be too long, Remmy!"

They sighed and simultaneously made rude gestures at Sirius before starting down the stairs, laughing at the curses Sirius shouted after them.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Emmeline, still laughing, gasped, "We may need to actually snog or something, to get Sirius off our backs!"

"What?" asked Remus, taken aback. "Do you want to…?"

"No! I was just kidding!" babbled Emmeline, horror-struck. "I mean it's not that you aren't good-looking or anything! You're really really good-looking and I'm sure if we did ever do anything it would be…"

Remus cut her off by grasping her flailing hands and kissing her softly.

"Amazing," sighed Emmeline. "Why would you, how did you…?"

"I assumed you didn't want to continue babbling, so I intervened," said Remus, grinning at her. "I decided you wouldn't mind."

"I don't," said Emmeline softly, standing on the tips of her toes so she could kiss him again.

They kissed much longer this time and when they broke apart, they were both out of breath and grinning at each other.

"If you tell Sirius _anything_, I'll kick your arse," said Emmeline sternly, playing with a strand of his light brown hair. "I want to see the look on his face too."

"Of course, of course," said Remus, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "Though I think he'll be the one who's most smug about it, seeing as he insinuated it enough."

"Too true," said Emmeline, leaning against his chest tiredly. She yawned. "Damn, I think I slept a total of four hours last night."

"Then you need to go back to Hestia's and get some rest," said Remus firmly, pushing her toward the door. "I'll see you with Lily, Monica, and Hestia at noon."

"See you," said Emmeline, kissing him gently before stepping out the door, a broad smile on her face.

* * *

-scream of glee- I will admit when I started writing this chapter, I had no idea Emmeline/Remus would reach this point, but I'm so glad it did! –scream of glee- Sweet, tender, fluffy, all that good stuff! Yes, I snuck in a bit of Lily/James for you in there since the past few chapters have all been Sirius/Monica including this one. Wow three different views of relationships all in one chapter! Ok I can't form coherent thoughts! Tell me what you think! **E.D.J.**


	19. Threats Always Lead to Confessions

**Disclaimer- **Nothing is mine, nothing is mine, nothing is mine, and I'll say it again nothing is mine! Ole!

**Authoress's Note-**Aren't I just the best updater to update to fics within two days of each other? -grins proudly- I'm still happy about the last chapter and the only downside is that I'm not Emmeline! -sobs hysterically- Anyway hope you like this chapter! **E.D.J.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Professor D.S. Silvers- **YesI is happy too.

**ThelovelyladyLily**- Your friend read some of Seven Years of Marauding? Did he review?

**brooklyngirl- **Yay you finished Trickster's Queen! The book made my friends and me sad though because Nawat was not in it a lot! -sobs- AND when he was in it, he wasn't hysterically funny like in Trickster's Choice! Oh well he's still hot. -grins- I've finally finished Squire and Lady Knight and I was incredibly sad that she wasn't in love with Neal anymore and I was mucho pissed at Dom and Cleon (well more at Dom and Kel for being so fickle), but I'm over it now even though I'm still bitter. -is bitter- I still love Neal more than Dom and I wish I was Yuki. -sighs- And I still wish as Emmeline and I wish I was Ella from Ella Enchanted (not the damn movie, the book! Anne Hathaway, TERRIBLE! Char guy, TERRIBLE AND UGLY!), and someone named Kate from a really good book called Sorcery & Cecilia (really hot guy Thomas! -sighs-) Anyway I'll stop for now. Thanks for the Thanksgiving turkey review deliverer! He was delish.

**Shanti/shiznigh**- Quite on the contrary, my friend. You are wrong as well as right about the hippocampus. It is indeed a section of the brain (googling the word on my part led me to realize this), but it is alsoa half horse, half fish magical beast inNewt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. I can assure you that I was referring to the magical beast and not the section of the brain.

**La Conquistadora**- If I am mean and evil, what are you? Don't answer that. Yes, I'm sure the otter and now the bear and monkey are all well inside your locker. Some people keep excessive amounts of candy in their locker, wehave stuffed animals. Go figure.FIN. (ha i can do ittoo)

**MagicFairyDuster**- Yay is right my friend.

**Pretty Padfoot**- I'm glad you love the story!

* * *

**Ch. 19- Threats Always Lead to Confessions **

Emmeline felt like she was floating as she made her way across the sand to Hestia's house. Remus had kissed her! She had kissed him! She sighed happily as she quietly opened the door and slipped inside. Emmeline tiptoed up the stairs and when she reached the top she saw Hestia sitting on the sofa, a book propped against her knees.

"Hey, Hestia," she whispered, knowing Lily and Monica were most definitely still sleeping.

Hestia muttered a hello and glanced up from her book as Emmeline sat down in the chair across from her. "You have a weird look on your face, Em," she declared, setting her book down on the coffee table.

"What? My face is perfectly normal!" said Emmeline defensively, realizing she'd been grinning like an idiot.

"Do you normally look like this?" asked Hestia, doing an imitation of Emmeline. Her face looked rather soppy and lovesick. "What happened? Unless… he kissed you!"

"What? How'd you…" gasped Emmeline.

"It's a gift," said Hestia smugly. "Oh I can't wait to meet this bloke from the beach!"

"Bloke from the what?" asked Emmeline, utterly confused.

"From the beach!" exclaimed Hestia, squinting at her. "The one who you said you were with last night? That isn't who kissed you?"

"No, actually I made him up," said Emmeline, rather embarrassed. "I was at the Potters' yesterday. I knew Lily and Monica would go completely ballistic if they heard that, so I lied."

"I'm not even going to ask why you were at James's house," muttered Hestia. "So who kissed you? James? No he's stuck on Lily. Sirius? Maybe, but I think he's much to fixed on going after Monica right now. I don't know why you'd be happy to be kissed by Peter… REMUS?!" Hestia shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth as she saw Emmeline nod timidly. "Merlin, Em. It took you long enough."

"What do you mean?" asked Emmeline.

"Well the poor boy's fancied you since about third year, Em!" said Hestia, exasperated. "I'd given up hope of you ever noticing around February of this year."

"Why didn't you tell me?" gasped Emmeline, shock etched in every line of her face.

"And have Remus kill me twice over? No thank you," said Hestia, shaking her head. "I value my life too much for that."

"Do Mon and Lily know?" asked Emmeline.

"Of course they do!" screeched Hestia. "Everyone in the entire bloody school does! Black's even been taking bets on how long it would be until Remus said or did something! It's up to almost two-hundred Galleons!"

"Oh the bastard, I'll kill him," muttered Emmeline, her face quite red. "I can't believe it!"

"Why didn't you tell us you fancied him?!" asked Hestia.

"I thought you all had such 'excellent observation skills'," snapped Emmeline, annoyed. "Shouldn't you have noticed?"

"We were all too focused on Remus, I guess," said Hestia with a shrug. "How long have you fancied him?"

"I don't know," said Emmeline with an exasperated sigh. "A good year at least."

"Blimey," breathed Hestia. "How couldn't we have noticed? Tell me everything."

With that, Emmeline launched, rather excitedly, into the tale. When she had finished, Hestia was grinning smugly.

"So it was _you_ who suggested you two snog!" said Hestia, raising her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean to!" protested Emmeline, her face red. "It just came out!"

"It was what you were thinking though, wasn't it?" pointed out Hestia.

"Pretty much," said Emmeline with a small smile.

"Oh you two will may the cutest couple!" squealed Hestia, clapping her hands together gleefully.

"Couple?" repeated Emmeline nervously. "Are we a couple?"

"Didn't he ask you about it?" asked Hestia, a frown puckering her brow.

Emmeline shook her head.

"Well I don't know why he wouldn't want that," said Hestia firmly. "I'll bet he'll ask you later."

"Great," said Emmeline, her voice cracking slightly.

"_Now_ what's wrong?" asked Hestia impatiently.

"Well I've never actually _dated_ anyone," said Emmeline, her face flushing scarlet red.

"Of course you have!" said Hestia loudly. "There was…oh no…no…didn't you go to Hogsmeade with Davy Gudgeon once?"

Emmeline snorted loudly. "I don't think spending a quarter of an hour staring at the scar around his eye and then running off to meet Lily, you, and Monica to go Christmas shopping counts as anything."

"Oh right," said Hestia, shifting uncomfortably as she pictured the scar the Whomping Willow had given Davy first year. "Well what about Remus?" she suddenly demanded. "Who has he dated?"

"Well…" Emmeline faltered. "He went to Hogsmeade with Kathryn Wolcott once or twice."

Hestia laughed loudly. "Em, you know that girl was practically stalking him and Remus was too nice to say anything until Kathryn started carrying around mistletoe with her everywhere. I think she must have dragged him away from Sirius, James, and Peter with some twitter about finding the right book for Defense Against the Dark Arts background reading when we saw them together in Hogsmeade."

"Alright," said Emmeline with a relieved sigh. "I guess I can't worry about it too much."

* * *

Remus climbed the stairs of the Potters' house, a smug grin on his face. He looked not unlike Sirius when he happened to say something intelligent that Remus couldn't contradict with a snide remark. Did I really kiss her? He thought, slightly dazed. Did she kiss _me_? 

Remus pinched himself on the arm and it hurt rather badly, so he decided he wasn't dreaming. When he reached the Marauders' personal sitting room, James looked up and asked, "What kept you?"

"Or perhaps the question is _who_ kept you?" said Sirius, smirking.

"Oh can it, Padfoot," said Remus smoothly. "Nothing happened."

Remus threw himself down next to Sirius to watch James and Peter's fierce Gobstones game. Suddenly, Sirius sniffed the air.

"That's strange…" he muttered before transforming into a large black dog.

The dog sniffed all around Remus and inspected his hands thoroughly with a wet nose. Remus could almost see the amused glint forming in the dog's grey eyes. Within a moment, Sirius had transformed back into his human form and was grinning triumphantly.

"Alright, if nothing happened, why do you smell like a girl?" asked Sirius and both James and Peter turned away from their game with interest.

"It's my soap!" said Remus defensively, his voice slightly high-pitched. "I got a free sample from some store and I didn't realize it was erm…" He sniffed the air. "Fruity-scented."

"Not buying it, Moony," said James, his grin now identical to Sirius's.

"I fell into an abandoned pile of old fruit outside the door!" said Remus frantically; dimly aware of how mad he sounded.

"Abandoned pile of old fruit, eh?" said Sirius, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Interestingly enough, Emmeline smelled exactly like this abandoned pile of old fruit when she was here. Maybe she fell into it too."

"Should we go see if there's a large amount of crushed fruit decorating my doorstep?" asked James, taking a step toward the hallway.

"I vanished it!" yelped Remus.

"But what about the laws restricting underage wizardry?" asked Peter.

"Oh I erm… didn't vanish it, I… cleaned it up!" stuttered Remus.

"So you're telling us you walked Emmeline to the door, said goodbye, and then fell into an abandoned pie of old fruit that had somehow appeared on Prongs's doorstep?" asked Sirius.

Remus nodded and Sirius shook his head. "Dug ourselves quite a hole now, haven't

we, Moony?"

Remus shook his head vigorously.

Sirius sighed and transformed back into a dog. Seeing James's nod, he backed up to the wall and then charged Remus at breakneck speed.

"Padfoot!" yelped Remus, making a run for the stairs.

Sirius gave chase and with a yowl, leaped at Remus's back, knocking him head over heels to the floor. Remus lay on the floor, stunned, giving Peter and James a chance to run up and grab his arms.

"Now, Moony," said James diplomatically. "If you don't tell us the truth, Padfoot will…"

He nodded at the black dog who stepped forward until his head was right above Remus's face. Remus could see the long strings of drool hanging from the dog's mouth.

"Oh Padfoot, not again!" moaned Remus, attempting to cover his face, but Peter and James held his arms fast.

Remus could see the drool dripping lower and lower and finally he shouted, "Okay! Okay! I kissed her!"

Sirius instantly transformed and Peter and James released Remus's arms.

"Blimey, you took longer than usual to break, Moony," said Sirius, wiping drool off his chin with a sleeve. "Well done."

Remus muttered something incoherent consisting of the words "berks" and "Avada Kedavra".

"Now, now, Moony," said James, shaking a reprimanding finger at Remus. "There's no need for death threats. Save those for special occasions."

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead," muttered Remus, his head in his hands.

"Hopefully not for another eighty some years," put in Sirius. "But frankly, I'd like to live to be at least two-hundred and fifty."

Remus groaned.

"Moony, are you having a bit of an angsty moment?" asked James innocently.

"She is going to kill me!" yelled Remus. "I wasn't supposed to say anything! And then she'll never glance my way again! Why am I such an idiot?"

"Actually, Moony, you're rather brilliant. Sirius here's the classified idiot," said James, pointing at Sirius who was torn between nodding and looking offended.

Remus merely moaned.

"You know, we could just pretend you never told us," Peter pointed out.

"Or I could Memory Charms on you three!" said Remus, a crazed look in his eyes. "Then you _really_ wouldn't remember anything!" He fumbled in his pocket for his wand.

"Oh no you don't, Moony," said James, wrestling the wand out of Remus's grip. "You're not doing any magic on us when you're acting mental."

"Plus the whole underage wizardry thing again," added Peter.

Remus went back to frantic muttering, which gradually increased to hysterical babbling.

"Moony," said Sirius, grasping his friend by the shoulders. "Breathe. You're going to be fine. She's not going to be upset because she's not going to find out. Alright?"

Remus nodded weakly and relaxed slightly. "They're coming over in…" He glanced at his watch. "An hour and a half."

"Oh right, damn!" shouted Sirius and James in unison, rushing off to make themselves looking handsome for the girls they were lovesick over.

* * *

"But Emmmmmm…" whined Lily as Hestia and Emmeline dragged her out the door. "Why do we have to go over there?" 

"Because I promised we would," said Emmeline vaguely, tugging at Lily's arm.

"But I don't wanna go!" sobbed Lily childishly. "I can't stand him!"

Monica, who had been walking quietly behind them up until then suddenlygrabbed Lily's shoulder. "Lily, I will not hesitate to break the laws against underage wizardry to put a Silencing Charm on you," she growled fiercely. "Now shut it. We're going."

Lily whimpered slightly, but was silent.

"Mon, are you going to be alright?" asked Hestia, biting her lip slightly as they made their way up the front stairs to the Potters'.

"I'll manage," gasped Monica, whose face was now quite pale. She reached a trembling finger forward and rang the bell.

* * *

Ohhh... you didn't think I'd let you know what's going to happen, did you? cough I actually don't know what'll happen either, I haven't written past this point. Yes, I momentarily contemplated having them actually have a whole scene at the Potters' in this chapter, but we'll just have to wait till next chapter, won't we? -grins evilly- Reviews may speed up the updating process, but I can assure that it won't be before Christmas. I'm going on vacation for Xmas break, so I'll bring stuff to work on Crazy Chats, Seven Years of Marauding, Summer with the Arrogant Prat, and my Azalea book! -breathes- I'm one busy girl! Remember I already receive enough death threats from Draco! -everyone who hasn't read the latest update of Crazy Chats looks confused- Tootles! **E.D.J. **


	20. Certain Feelings

**Disclaimer- Computer's** are beyond evil and no I don't own it.

**Authoress's Note**- I am incredibly angry right now because the page 'expired' and erased all my review responses! -sniffs over the unfairness of it all- Anyway the only thing I must say is that La Conquistadora, get rid of your pop up blocker, so you can review! I miss your sarcasm, pessimism, and randomness!

**Thanks for the reviews (even though the wonderful responses disappeared and I will now resort to less that stunning ones)**

**ThelovelyladyLily**- Yes I'm glad you loved all the parts I thought were hilarious!

**Pretty Padfoot- **I'm glad you liked the Remus-drool threat!

**brooklyngirl- **I'm terribly sad about your review response the most because I had this huge wonderful response written with a random rant about a book I hated to finish it and it's gone! -sobs- Anyway add Rhys to my list of hot snoggable guys. Two Princesses of Bamarre? Good book. Also remind me to rant on the Ella Enchantedmovie in my next response (add a note in your review) because I am all together too tired to write it now!

**MagicFairyDuster- **I'm glad you like that I switch the stories focus from character to character!

**blondedork**- Oh if you're ever able to post your story, don't feel that you can't do just because you feel mine's better. You should still post! I wish you good luck on your story that is similar to this! I'm glad you liked everything with Remus too!

* * *

**Ch. 20- Certain Feelings**

"_But Emmmmm…" whined Lily as Hestia and Emmeline dragged her out the door. "Why do we have to go over there?"_

"_Because I promised we would," said Emmeline vaguely, tugging at Lily's arm._

"_But I don't wanna go!" sobbed Lily childishly. "I can't stand him!"_

_Monica, who had been walking quietly behind them, grabbed Lily's shoulder. "Lily, I will not hesitate to break the laws against underage wizardry to put a Silencing Charm on you," she growled fiercely. "Now shut it. We're going."_

_Lily whimpered slightly but was silent._

"_Mon, are you going to be alright?" asked Hestia, biting her lip slightly as they made their way up the front stairs to the Potters'._

"_I'll manage," gasped Monica, her face now quite pale. She extended a trembling finger forward and rang the bell._

After only a few moments, the door opened, revealing the four Marauders clustered in the doorway.

"Em!" said James, Sirius, and Peter brightly, shooting furtive glances at Remus who muttered a tight-lipped hello.

"Longbottom," said Sirius evenly.

"Black," said Monica softly, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor.

"Evans," said James politely as he ushered everyone into the living room.

"Potter," said Lily stiffly. "I hope you don't plan on throwing anything else at my window?"

"Not in the near future," said James, suppressing a grin.

They all settled themselves on various chairs and sofas and everyone looked around at each other, waiting for someone to speak. Hestia looked expectantly from Emmeline to Remus and three of the Marauders did the same.

Blinking rapidly, Emmeline noticed the rather lopsided grins and smug smirks on James, Sirius, and Peter's faces. "You told them!" she yelped loudly, staring pointedly at Remus.

'Erm…" began Remus, shifting uncomfortably. "They forced it out of me!"

"Really, Em, darling, we knew it would happen sooner or later, so it wasn't too difficult to figure out when Moony's looking like this!" said Sirius, putting on a dreamy, love-sick face.

"That's exactly how she looked!" said Hestia excitedly, pointing at Emmeline. "I mean, granted, I thought it was because of that bloke from the beach, but after she told me the truth-"

"You told Hestia?!" interrupted Remus. "And _I've _been feeling guilty about telling these three and you've already… wait a minute… _bloke from the beach_?!"

"He doesn't exist!" said Emmeline, exasperated. "And I didn't promise not to tell anyone! I only made you promise not to tell Sirius because I wanted to be there when he nearly wet himself with glee!"

"Wet myself with glee?" repeated Sirius, rather offended. "Do you take me for some ninety-year-old chap with bladder trouble?"

"Would someone please tell us what's going on?" screeched Lily. "And what are you talking about, Em? There most certainly was a bloke from the beach! You were talking about him when Monica was sobbing over-"

"My broken nail!" yelped Monica, shooting a glare at Lily who winced, realizing what she had been about to reveal. "I mean really, it looked horrible! And yeah, Em, I remember you mentioning this bloke from the beach too, despite t he crying over my erm… broken nail. I mean you did say-"

"What are these two on about, Emmeline?" demanded Remus. "If you honestly think I'll just-"

"Hey a Sickle!" shouted Sirius excitedly, picking the coin out form between two of the sofa cushions. He glance dup and saw everyone glaring fiercely at him. "Oh don't mind me. Do carry on."

"As I was saying…" began Remus. "If you really think I'm going to just bend over backward and-"

"I'm not asking you to bend over backward about anything!" said Emmeline tiredly. "There isn't anything you should be-"

"Honestly, Evans, she hasn't told you yet?" said James smugly, meeting Lily's angry gaze. "I would have expected Em to run over screaming happily in a high-pitched voice about it, you know since girls are very prone to doing that sort of thing-"

"JAMES POTTER!" said Lily hotly. "That is by far one of the most insulting and chauvinistic things you have ever said, including that time you-"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Longbottom!" moaned Sirius as Monica beat him over the head with one of the sofa cushions. "I was only joking! I only said-"

"Sirius!" cut in Emmeline, Remus, James, and Peter. "We told you to keep your bloody mouth shut about-"

"I WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON NOW!" roared Lily.

"Em and Moony snogged and they're going to get married and have lots of little Moony babies, alright?" said Sirius, irritated.

"WHAT?!" squeaked Lily and Monica as well as Emmeline and Remus.

"Well it's fairly obvious," said Sirius to Remus and Emmeline. "I mean, he's liked you since about third year and… PRONGS! GIVE ME BACK MY SICKLE!" Sirius dove at James, fighting for ownership of the small silver coin. "PRONGS! GIVE IT BACK!"

"And they wonder why women live longer," muttered Hestia, invoking snickers from Lily, Emmeline, and Monica and cries of indignation from Remus and Peter.

Sirius finally wrestled the Sickle out of James's grasp and pumped his fist in the air, victorious.

"Congrats, truly," said Monica with an exasperated sigh.

"I'm sure the Minister of Magic will be arriving any time now," added Remus.

"There will be photo ops and press junkets, I can just see the headlines now, 'Two Idiots Fight Over Meager Sickle, Bigger Idiot Wins'," said Emmeline wryly.

"Seriously, you and Remus?" Lily asked, turning to Emmeline. Emmeline nodded timidly. "Nice catch."

Remus turned bright red and James let out a cry of protest from where he lay crumpled on the floor.

"Leave Remus alone, James," warned Lily. "Or I'll have Sirius beat on you again."

James whimpered pitifully, barely noticing Lily had called him 'James'.

"Now," said Hestia primly. "Why did we have to come over here anyway?"

All of the Marauders glanced at Emmeline expectantly and Emmeline was horrified to realize she'd forgotten to make up an excuse.

"Well, erm… James here thought we all should…"

"Grovel and bow down to him?" interrupted Lily.

"No…"

"Have a parade in his honor?" guessed Monica.

"NO..."

"Merlin's beard, do you all think I'm that self-centered?" asked James.

"Yes," everyone replied.

"Oh, well good to know," said James, taken aback.

"Anyway, _James_, what did you have in mind?" said Emmeline, giving him a sickly sweet smile. "I seem to have forgotten."

"We should do something for Em and Moony!" said James, running with the first thing that popped into his head. "In honor of their… er…"

"Snog fest?" suggested Sirius.

"Sure."

Emmeline and Remus both looked extremely offended.

"Well Em and I haven't really talked…" said Remus, his face quite red.

"Talk then," said Peter.

"Not with all of you _here_," whined Remus.

"Fine, we're clearly not wanted here, are we Prongs, Wormtail?" said Sirius huffily, standing up.

"Yes, clearly," said James. "Lily, Hestia, Monica would you like to accompany us elsewhere in the house so these two can 'talk'?"

"Gladly," said Monica, deliberately ignoring Lily's horror-struck face.

Finally, everyone had left and only Emmeline and Remus were left staring at each other, their faces red. Remus had since moved to the sofa Emmeline was sitting on.

"So…" said Emmeline.

"Yeah…" said Remus.

"Since third year, huh?" said Emmeline, nervously fiddling with a strand of her light brown hair. "I'm sorry. I never noticed."

"Well, I didn't want to make it blatantly obvious like James and Sirius do," said Remus nervously. "Especially since…" He paused.

"Since?" said Emmeline encouragingly.

"Since I didn't know if you felt the same way or not," said Remus quickly, his tongue feeling rather thick.

"Ah," said Emmeline, biting her lip. "It was the same for me. I was scared. I'm still scared."

Remus nodded in agreement. "I think kissing you then was one of the most spontaneous things I've ever done in my life."

Emmeline smiled. "I'm glad you did it though."

"So am I."

She leaned forward and kissed him gently. Warmth flowed through both of them.

Remus pulled away first. "There's really no bloke from the beach?" he asked hoarsely.

"Only you I guess," said Emmeline, giggling.

They kissed for a while before finally breaking apart.

"Then it's official then? We're dating?" asked Remus, wrapping his arms around her.

"I suppose," said Emmeline, grinning as she kissed his cheek.

"You sound thrilled," said Remus dryly. He buried his face in her hair and sighed.

"Oh I am," Emmeline said, smiling contently as she leaned against him.

* * *

"Can you hear anything?" whispered Peter. 

"If you would stop jabbering, I'd be able to tell!" hissed Sirius, his ear against the door.

"I'm sure Em and Remus will be thrilled to hear you're listening in," said Monica loudly and both Sirius and Peter jumped away from the door as if they'd been burned.

"We weren't doing anything, Mon," said Sirius innocently, sitting down next to her. Peter had conveniently decided to go talk to James.

"Of course you weren't," said Monica, rolling her eyes.

"Those two sure look cozy," observed Sirius, nodding at Lily and James who were seated on opposite sides of the room, shooting the occasional glare at each other.

"Well it reassures us they're still sane," said Monica, feeling a slight nervousness welling up inside her stomach. She changed the subject. "Did you know about Em and Remus for awhile?"

"Well you know with Remus, it was all over the school, so everyone knew how _he_ felt, but until we got here, I didn't notice anything _gooey_ about Em.Finally, I noticedshe was going out of her way to stand by Remus or make him laugh or simply just to talk to him. After that, brilliant as I, I insinuated it and it happened. It's like they always say, 'If you insinuate something enough, it's bound to happen.'"

Monica squinted at him. "Who says that?"

"I do." Monica's laugh echoed throughout the room and everyone, including Sirius, stared at her, amazed.

Sirius grinned at her. "You have a really great laugh."

"Erm... thanks?" said Monica warily, her heart beating faster.

"I suppose I should go," said Sirius, standing up. "I have to get that French blonde out of my life."

"Ambre?" asked Monica, heart thumping. "But I thought you liked her."

"I thought I did, but you just can't be with someone when certain feelings aren't there, can you?" said Sirius wisely, completely forgetting the excuse Remus, Emmeline, James, and Peter had scripted for him.

"I suppose not," said Monica, shifting uncomfortably as her heart fluttered painfully. "I suppose not."

"See you," said Sirius brightly, winking at her, and stepping out the door.

Monica sat for a few minutes, head spinning and heart racing madly. Slowly, she stood up. Lily, Hestia, James, and Peter looked at her questioningly.

"I have to go break up with Gavin!" said Monica shakily, hurrying out the door.

After she disappeared, James slapped Peter on the back and grinned broadly. "I told you that Padfoot charm works every time!"

* * *

I thought that was a very fitting way to end the chapter, don't you? -grins- Don't think that Monica's going to run back and snog Sirius after she gets rid of Gavin, she's still wary of him, but she knows as Sirius said, she doesn't have those 'certain feelings' for Gavin and it's clearly not worth it to date him any longer. Anyway hope you all review! Have a happy New Year! TTFN! (Yes I do speak Tigger, brooklyngirl!) **E.D.J.**


	21. Breakup is Such a Strong Word

**Disclaimer- **Do I need to spell it out for you? IT-IS-NOT-MINE.

**Authoress's Note**- Whoo hoo! Who updated twice in one day? Me! I'm on a happy kick from finally getting done with finals! Yay! I really hope you all read my new story "Clawing My Way to the Top" about Rita Skeeter! I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but it's relatively necessary to the plot so... hope you like it! **E.D.J.**

**Thanks for the gorgeous reviews!**

**ThelovelyladyLily**- I'm glad you liked "Two Idiots Fight Over a Sickle: Bigger Idiots Wins"! And of course Sirius's lovely insinuating!

**magiclover53-** Yay I like balloons and confetti! Yes I love Em and Remus they are really fun to write together!

**MagicFairyDuster**- I'll try to keep writing great!

**brooklyngirl-** Ooh superhyperhappyfun-ness! Cool word. You know what word I hate though that is similar to that? _Perky_. -shudders- It sounds like some pepped up cheerleader (not that I really have anything against cheerleaders, but I would NEVER be one)! If someone EVER calls me "perky", they've gone the right way for a fist in the face. He he. Did you see the Recommended Reading list I added to my personal profile? If not, and if you still need a book for your book project or simply a book to read, look on there! Ah yes, Ella Enchanted ranting... -grins evilly- Where do I start? I actually rented it to see if it was as bad as everyone said and it WAS! -shudder- The Prince was NOT Char, he was ugly as heck. And I really have a loathing for Anne Hathaway for getting cast in so many rolesin good books turned to horrible movies (coughThe Princess Diaries cough) Anyway they tried to make the movie too COMEDIC. Mandy (Minnie Driver, ack) couldn't do magic to save her life and everyone (especially the fairies) were wearing like cheap Halloween costumes for the love of pie! And did the book ever once mention Prince Char having a fan club, Ella hating Char went she first meets him, or elves and ogres being enslaved and forced to entertain people? -shudder x 10- And Char had an evil uncle with a stupid computer-generated snake who wants to steal the throne? -shakes head- How dare they. I pity Gail Carson Levine I really do. They only thing that stood out that I thought was remotely funny was when someone in Prince Char's fan club asked "Prince Char, are you a fast runner?" He answered, "No not particularly. Why?" Then they chased after him. Semi-funny but I would have gladly given that scene up for an accurate movie. -sighs-

**Tash**- Merlin, read it all in one go? You have patience, Tash! Ah the ever center question, will Em find out if Remus is a werewolf? The answer is yes of course. But the question is how she will react?

**skippy- **I'm glad you think some of my other fic ideas are good! I'm glad you like the Weasleys idea! I greatly enjoyed writing the bit that I have so far. Yes there are no Remus fics that don't consist of slash or cross-generation. -vomits- Perhaps if I get inspired I'll write a short little ficlet about him or something. I'm not up for a long project until Seven Years of Marauding which is going to be a long LONG time. Of yes and I'm a complete and utter American! Thank you so much for the compliment on my being able to write British points of view well! I give all credit to my obsessive rereading of Harry Potter (meaning all credit to J.K. Rowling) and spending a lot of time on websites devoted to British words and their English translations. I'm not obsessive enough to change spellings of words to the British spellings; I don't have the time. Glad you love the quotes on my page too!

* * *

**Ch. 21- 'Breakup' is Such a Strong Word**

Sirius Black was on a mission: to win Monica Longbottom's heart. He'd stripped himself of everything in his dating arsenal. No charm, no lewd jokes, no 'flings on the side' as Emmeline had so eloquently put it, and now, what was left? Only a handsome (of course you still had to give him that) little schoolboy with a massive crush. Sirius had been taken down a few pegs from his former 'I-don't-really-give-a-fuck-I'm-roguishly-handsome' attitude to something a bit more average.

A bit more pathetic would be more appropriate, thought Sirius sullenly, trudging across the sand. If this doesn't work, I'm going to be forced to beg, he grumbled. Not that that's much of a problem. My Animagus form _is_ a dog after all. It's just so…

Pathetic? suggested a voice in his mind. The rather chatty one who tended to sound a lot like Remus.

"Moony'd be proud to know he comes with me wherever I go," Sirius grumbled aloud, carelessly punching the doorbell of Ambre's house.

Her home wasn't nearly as nice as James or Hestia's, but still, it was her family's _summer_ home, which meant something in the kinds of circles rich wizards tended to run in. Ambre had proudly gushed about her home in the French countryside and the penthouse flat in Paris, it was quite apparent that her family, the Devereuxes, was relatively well off.

Sirius jumped out of his thoughts as the door was flung open. "Sirius!" squealed Ambre, flying out the door and throwing her arms around him. "Zis is unexpected!"

He staggered backward for she was nearly as tall as he was. Uncomfortably, he patted her back awkwardly. "Hello, Ambre."

She looked up at him searchingly, a question in her eyes. "What is ze matter? You look 'orrible."

"Do I?" said Sirius faintly, running a hand through his hair nervously. "Ambre, I can't do this anymore."

"Ah," said Ambre meaningfully, pulling him down onto the swing on the house's front porch. "I knew zat zis would 'appen eventually. Frankly, I am surprised you've 'ung on zis long."

"What?" asked Sirius, confused.

"You are 'ere to break up wiz me because you fancy zat Monica girl," replied Ambre, smiling knowingly at him.

"What? How did you-"

"It was in your eyes when we saw 'er saw Monica and 'er boyfriend in ze restaurant," she said, moving her long legs so the swing moved gently back and forth. "It is quite alright, Sirius. I am actually starting to miss my old boyfriend, Gustave. You are wonderful, but it is not ze same when our 'earts are elsewhere."

"Thank you, Ambre," he said, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. "I really mean it. I hope Gustave is really the bloke of your dreams."

"And I 'ope Monica is the girl of yours," she said with a wink. "Now you must go get 'er!"

"But she's still dating Gavin!" moaned Sirius. "And she still hates me!"

"She does not 'ate you," said Ambre quietly. "She is afraid."

"Of what?"

"What is zer not to be afraid of in zis world?" sighed Ambre philosophically. "She is afraid of being 'urt, being rejected. If you looked closely, as I did when I met her, you would be able to see."

"Why does it have to be so complicated?" he grumbled. "Why can't it be easy?"

"Nothing in love is easy," Ambre quipped, twisting a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "What would be ze point if it was?"

"You're right," Sirius grinned. "Hopefully it will all work out in the end."

"Be good to 'er," she warned. "Monica does not come off as a girl who will let you order 'er around."

"Merlin, I hope not!" laughed Sirius. "What's a relationship without some healthy arguments? And if it works out, we're bound to have plenty."

* * *

"Monica! I haven't seen you in ages! I missed you! My heart was dying!" yelled Gavin as he opened the door to find her on his doorstep. He picked her up, twirling her around and kissing her cheek.

"It's nice to see you too!" said Monica, her voice bright with false cheer. "I came here because I have to talk to you about something."

"All right, take a seat on the most comfortable stairs in the world!" said Gavin brightly, motioning to the steps up to his front door.

Monica sat and he put his arm around her, commenting on how 'perfectly' she fit in his arms. She stiffened and pulled away from him.

"What's the matter?" breathed Gavin, looking at her questioningly.

"Gavin, I-" began Monica, "-need to be alone for awhile. My thoughts are horribly cluttered and I just need to be by myself. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think so," he said, his bottom lip trembling slightly. "Yes, I understand."

"Thank you, Gavin," said Monica, hugging him. "That means a lot that this doesn't have to be something really messy. It leaves me one less thing to worry about."

She stood up and was walking back across the beach when Gavin shouted, "If Sirius isn't the luckiest bloke in the world, I don't know who is."

"What?" asked Monica incredulously, hurrying back over to him. "What did you just say?"

"You know what I said, Monica," Gavin said, grinning slightly. "You two are nearly as obvious about it as James and Lily. The little hate/hate acts can be rather convincing at times, but it's not real, is it?"

"Not usually," she confessed. "But it's just so complicated."

"Why?" asked Gavin. "To me, it seems like the easiest thing in the world."

"Well, you're not in the middle of it!" snapped Monica. She instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry. I've been on edge for a week over this."

"What is it your so afraid of?"

"I won't be one of his trophy girls," she said stubbornly. "I promised myself I'd never be reduced to a… notch on his bedpost."

"Has he _ever_ said that? Has he ever said that he wants you as a trophy?"

"Well, no, but-"

"But nothing. I'm sure there's a good many rumors floating around Hogwarts about Sirius, right?" asked Gavin. Monica nodded. "Well, you just have to remember not every rumor is true and that at one point or another you're going to have to take a chance on something. Maybe not on Sirius, but on _something_ or _someone else_."

"Thanks, you're so great," said Monica, hugging him again. "I just need to think this through."

"Sometimes overanalyzing can make you fear something even more," said Gavin wisely.

Monica nodded and headed back to Hestia's house.

* * *

As both Sirius and Monica trudged home, slightly less heavy-hearted, Lily, Hestia, Emmeline, Remus, James, and Peter were contemplating the situation between their two friends. Even though Emmeline hadn't mentioned to the Marauders that Monica had confessedthat she fanciedSirius, it seemed to be common knowledge among them. ("Only Sirius is thick enough not to see it," Remus had quipped. "It's not really our place to tell him anyway. He has to figure it out himself.")

"Five Galleons says one of them chickens out," James said, taking a handful of coins out of his pocket and flinging them on the table.

"You're on," challenged Emmeline. "I have a little faith in my friends."

"A Galleon says Monica breaks first and tells him," said Lily, forgetting her inhibitions about underage gambling and tossing a Galleon on the table.

"Dropping a lot of gold there, aren't you, Evans?" smirked James. "Honestly, a Galleon?"

"Forgive me! I'm sorry I don't have a nice pile of money on me at all times," snapped Lily. "We shouldn't even be gambling! It's-"

Hestia had forced a hand over Lily's mouth and had dropped three Galleons on Sirius being the first to confess.

Peter was too tight-fisted to bet at all and Emmeline and Remus were now more interested in paying attention to each other than to the pile of coins in front of them.

"Well, aren't you two just _besotted_ with each other?" said Lily, pretending to be disgusted but actually thinking Em and Remus were rather cute. "I blame you, Remus," she added.

"I gladly take all the blame and then some," said Remus dryly and Emmeline turned red and giggled.

"Hey! What are we betting on?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Everyone whirled around to see Sirius. Everyone quickly scooped their money off the table and shoved it into their pockets.

"We weren't betting on anything, Padfoot," said James, his voice slightly high-pitched. "We were just seeing who had the most gold in their pockets."

"Fine, don't tell me," sighed Sirius, pretending to look forlorn, but everyone could tell that he looked much happier than he had in days. "I'll just tell you that Ambre is gone and I am completely and utterly single now."

"I never thought I'd see the day," said Remus, pretending to wipe away a tear. "Now you'll know how I feel every day. _Used_ to feellike," he corrected, grinning at Emmeline.

"Last time I insinuate anything ever!" shouted Sirius, covering his eyes. "I leave for an hour and come back to find you two like _this_? Never again!"

"It's not time for the melodramatics, Black," said Lily, in a bored tone, motioning for Sirius to sit down. "You may as well sit down while we wait to see if your object of affection really broke it off with Gavin."

"What?!" he breathed, putting a hand to his forehead. "What did you just say?!"

"After you went to go break it off with Ambre, Monica went to go get rid of Gavin," Hestia repeated since Lily had rolled her eyes and refused to speak to the idiot any longer.

"But why?" asked Sirius.

"Are you really that daft, Padfoot?" asked James incredulously. "You seem to being doing a very good job of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Merlin, do you need us to spell it out for you?" snapped Emmeline. "Think about what Hestia just said. After you told her you were getting rid of Ambre, she immediately takes off to break up with Gavin."

Sirius paused for a moment and let it sink in. Slowly, his face turned a bright shade of red. Everyone stared at him. Sirius _never_ blushed. "Oh dear Merlin! I…I think I need to lie down," said Sirius, slightly dazed.

Everyone switched seats so he could lie on the sofa. After a few moments, the first thing that came out of Sirius's mouth was: "Dammit! What am I supposed to do _now_?"

* * *

Sowhat'd ya'll think? Care to send me a little review? (nudge, nudge) Butfirst I have question for you all: Anyone horribly against a cliched Truth or Dare game coming up in this fic? I swear no Marauders will be playing, just the girls with most likely Lily and Em teaching Hestia and Monica the rules. Any opinions? -grins evilly- You never know what's bound to happen when Truth or Dare enters the mix. Ican't promise I won'twrite it even if you all hate the idea! It's my fic! Butplease tell me your opinion!**E.D.J.**


	22. Don't Play This at Home, Folks

**Disclaimer- **I own the fingers I type with and that's about it.

**Authoress's Note**- Truth or Dare it is! I'm actually quite proud of the way this turned out and hope anyone who was skeptical likes it as well. I'm actually too much of a chicken to ever play Truth or Dare, so it was quite fun to have the characters play it without myself being embarrassed though I did feel embarrassed for the characters! Anyway, I believe that you all will greatly enjoy this chapter, it's particularly 'juicy' I might add. -grins- I just said a very magical word, didn't I? **E.D.J.**

**(1)** "Ding dong the psycho's gone!" is credited to the TV show Friends. **  
**

**Thanks!**

**Tash- **I'm glad you liked the chapter and have nothing against Truth or Dare! I think if it's played too viciously than it's horribly mean though and not fun.

**Pretty Padfoot**- Yes, I'm hoping it's not too cliched! I didn't put myself through the agony of trying to read some Truth or Dare fics to find out what NOT to put it and I haven't really ever played in real life, but I think it turned out well.

**ThelovelyladyLily**- I'm glad you liked my lovely beginning to the last chapter. I'm particularly proud of it since I thought it was funny! Oh don't feel sorry about not liking Truth or Dare! I asked your opinion! And I'm not big on it in real life either, I'm too wimpy. -grins- I'm postive you'll like the results of this game of Truth or Dare. Well I'm not positive, but I'm hoping-crosses fingers-

**brooklyngirl**- Yes indeed. Ella Enchanted is a very sick movie. Princess Diaries Two was horrible as well. Have you read the books? The second movie has absolutely NOTHING to do with the books! If I was Meg Cabot, I would feel properly horrified by what they did to my masterpiece. That is why if I ever get my book published and they want to make it a movie, I'm telling them, "Either let me read over and change or write the screenplay or keep your filthy hands away from my work!" I'm glad you liked the quotes on my authoress's page! My friends and I are obsessed with funny quotes! Yes, I've read the Wayside School series as well. Those are good, very funny books too. And what state/city am I from? Are you planning on stalking me? Just kidding. Because I tend to be very very very paranoid, all I'll tell you is that I am from the Midwest.

**blondedork**- I'm glad you think the Truth or Dare will be brilliantly brilliant! You and brooklyngirl are both planning on stalking me! Again just kidding. If you didn't see the above response, I'm from the Midwest of the U.S. of A.

**MagicFairyDuster**- Ah yes much evil winks to you as well! I can't really tell you if there will be more Lily/James, but -evil wink- You'll see.

**Skippy-** Oh yes I think this Truth or Dare is very FUNNY.

* * *

**Ch. 22- Don't Play This At Home, Folks**

"What do you mean 'what am I supposed to do now'?" asked James, confused. "Isn't it obvious?"

"No!" said Sirius huffily. "Before, when I thought she hated me, the plan was to get her to like me. But now…what am I supposed to do? Ask her for a date and that's it, I'm in?"

Lily, Hestia, and Emmeline shifted uncomfortably.

"Well not exactly," mumbled Hestia. "She still has some er… problems with you."

"What'd you mean?" demanded Sirius.

Emmeline breathed deeply and decided that if Sirius already knew about Monica's feelings for him, it couldn't make it any worse to tell the rest of the secret. She cleared her throat. "Well, Mon thinks you only want her for… erm… pleasurable purposes."

"You mean a trophy girl," said Sirius miserably, burying his face in the sofa arm, so his voice was slightly muffled. "Another name to add to my list of bedded girls? Another shag to brag to my mates about? ANOTHER GODDAMN NOTCH ON MY BEDPOST, HUH?" Sirius lifted his head, and his grey eyes shone with suppressed fury. He glared vengefully at the three girls who were terrified by the dangerous edge to Sirius's voice. "Is that right?"

Lily opened her mouth and her voice came out as a dry squeak. "Yes, that's right."

Sirius threw back his head and laughed. "That's what she thinks, huh?" he murmured, eyes glinting. "Well, I'll show her." With that, he stood up and strode purposefully out of the room.

Everyone stared at each other, terrified out of their wits by Sirius's sudden switch from confusion to misery and then to anger and insanity.

"This whole thing is making Sirius a right loon," James muttered. "I for one will be glad when it's over."

Everyone else nodded, too stunned to speak.

* * *

Monica whistled cheerfully as she made her way up the Potters' front stairs and rang the bell. Gavin was gone and she was free to peacefully lust after Sirius, go after him, or even forget him entirely. Oh the possibilities! 

After a few moments, the door opened, revealing the Potters' house-elf, Victor. "Hello, Miss," he squeaked, bowing. "Victor is sorry, but Miss's friends have already gone home." He gestured emphatically at Hestia's house next-door. "Miss is welcome to come in. Young Master Potter and his friends is having tea at this very moment." A rather perplexed look appeared on the elf's face. "Well, they is not so much having tea as they is throwing Victor's fresh hot crumpets at each other. But, Miss is welcome just the same."

"No thanks, Victor," said Monica politely. "I'll just go to Hestia's house."

Victor nodded, gave her a slight bow, said goodbye, and shut the door once again.

Monica practically skipped across the sand to Hestia's house and bounded up the stairs, unaware of the huge grin on her face. When she reached the girls' sitting room, she flung the door open, singing, "Ding dong, the psycho's gone!" She and Hestia had been introduced to the wonder that is "The Wizard of Oz" earlier that week. **(1)**

"What psycho?" asked Emmeline absently from where she sat doodling a picture that looked suspiciously like Remus Lupin on a scrap of parchment.

"Separation-anxiety?" asked Monica wryly, glancing at the parchment. Emmeline turned scarlet and hastily stuffed the picture into her pocket. "And what do you mean 'what psycho'? How many psychos do we know?"

"Ooh, tough one," said Emmeline, pretending to think. "Let's see, Sirius, of course, Lily and James, you-"

"HEY!" shouted Monica, flinging a cushion at her. "If I must spell it out for you, oh daft one, I broke up with Gavin."

"Oh, that psycho," said Emmeline with a smirk. "I knew that. I just needed a little jab at you after your unwanted comment on my artwork."

"Ha, very funny," said Monica still grinning. "Where are Lily and Hestia? We need to celebrate!"

"We thought you'd never ask!" laughed Hestia's voice and the door to Lily's room was flung open, revealing Lily, Hestia, and a number of enormous cases of Butterbeer and sweets.

"You three know me too well," said Monica, accepting a bottle from Lily and downing it in ten seconds flat.

* * *

Four hours and five Butterbeers each later, the girls were still at it. They'd declined dinner and taken to lounging around the sitting room in their pyjamas and laughing hysterically over anything that happened to come out of their mouths. 

"You know what we should play?" asked Lily, eagerly bouncing up and down on the sofa.

"What?" asked the other three, too sugar-driven to realize how unnecessary the question was and how brainless all four of them sounded.

"Truth or Dare!" squealed Lily.

"Truth or what?" asked Hestia, confused.

"Dare," supplied Emmeline. "It's a Muggle game. Lily and I will teach you and Mon."

All four girls agreed to play and Emmeline and Lily quickly explained the rules.

"So we have to do or answer anything anyone asks?" asked Monica. "No matter what?"

"No matter what," repeated Emmeline, grinning slightly. This was going to be fun. Despite the sugar, she still had her wits and devious, calculating mind to help her. All she needed was perfect timing.

"I'll go first," Hestia volunteered bravely.

"I get to ask the questions then!" screeched Lily, an evil grin on her face. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Hestia knew she didn't have any secrets she hadn't already spilled to her friends. She didn't keep secrets from them.

"What really happened on your date with Nathaniel Waters back in fourth year? The one where you came back with your hair all mussed and wild-looking."

**Correction**: Hestia didn't keep secrets from her friends. Except that one.

"No!" yelped Hestia, her face red. "Anything but that!"

"You picked truth," Monica pointed out, already greatly enjoying this game.

"But… but…" All three girls gave her looks and Hestia sighed. "Alright! My hair got tangled up around Madam Rosmerta's wand- NO! I DON'T KNOW HOW- and she and Nate tried everything even one of those things that'll untie any knot, I forget what they're called. So, they decided they'd just have to use a spell to cut my hair. Except Nate got the Severing Charm mixed up with another one and… he set my hair on fire.And_that_ really got my hair off Rosmerta's wand."

"I knew it!" shouted Lily triumphantly. "I knew you smelled like you'd been set on fire when you came back!"

"Well, bully for you, Lils," grumbled Hestia. "It was the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me and it happened in front of the entire pub for Merlin's sake!"

Everyone else just laughed hysterically, and Hestia muttered something about how stupid this game was.

"Hestia, it's your turn to pick someone and ask questions," said Lily timidly, nudging Hestia who was still muttering fiercely.

"Fine," said Hestia flatly. "Em, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Alright, when you went on that date with Davy Gudgeon, did you really leave because of his eye scar or because you hopelessly fancied Remus?"

Everyone winced at the mention of Davy's scar and Emmeline turned scarlet. "Well, erm… the second one."

"Really?" said Hestia, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and besides, Davy's not much of a looker," mumbled Emmeline.

"Emmeline Leanora Vance!" gasped Lily, pretending to be scandalized. "Aren't you the shallow one?"

"Shallow like a puddle," added Monica. "Though I admit Davy's been slightly cross-eyed since the Whomping Willow got to him."

Everyone winced.

"Stop mentioning his eye!" snapped Lily, covering her ears. "It's bad enough that we have to see it during the school year! I don't want to picture it now!"

"Alright, Lily, your turn," said Emmeline with a smile. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Perfect.

"Kiss James."

"WHAT?" Lily sputtered, her face deathly pale.

"Kiss-"

"No, I heard you the first time, but, Em, I can't just go up and kiss him!" protested Lily.

"Why not?"

"Because I have a boyfriend!"

"And? It's a dare. And I highly doubt Andy's going to find out when he's a billion miles away in the Land Down Under."

"It's against my principles!"

"Principles don't matter in Truth or Dare." Emmeline's grin was getting wider. She knew Lilycouldn't back out. Eventually, she would run out of excuses and then.… Voile! An instant step forward. Or perhaps backward. Emmeline liked the idea of chance. And besides, it would make James happy for the next few… years.

Emmeline turned back to Lily, who was still sputtering much to Hestia and Monica's amusement, and said, "Well?"

"Fine," said Lily, throwing up her hands. "I'll do it. But it will be _your_ fault when Andy breaks up with me, I never get another boyfriend again, and I am forced to marry James Potter!"

Well that's the general idea.

"Splendid!" said Emmeline, rubbing her hands together. "Now we need to lay down some ground rules-"

"You mean I can't just blow him a kiss or something?"

Emmeline laughed. "No, Lils, that completely defeats the purpose of this being a dare. Alright, number one: It's a kiss on the mouth. You can choose the erm… Frenchness of it."

"I think I'll keep my tongue to myself, thank you very much," said Lily snidely. "Anything else?"

"It has to last at least thirty seconds-"

"THIRTY?" gasped Lily, horrified. "That's… that's… half a minute!"

"Well spotted," said Monica sarcastically

"One more thing-"

"WHAT? It can't get any worse than this!"

Oh how wrong you are, Lily. "We're watching."

* * *

"I hate you all!" growled Lily as the four girls trudged across the sand toward the Potters'. She pulled her dressing gown more closely around herself. "Couldn't you have at least let me change into something remotely decent?" she asked. 

"No," replied Emmeline.

They had reached the Potters' house. Lily sighed and grudgingly put Disillusionment Charms on her three so-called friends, being sure to whack them each very hard on the head with her wand. She listened and thought she heard the scurry of slippered feet going away from her and toward the house.

With a sigh of defeat, Lily climbed the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell. The door was opened by Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper. "Lily Evans," she said with a smile, eyeing Lily's dressing gown and pyjamas. "Can I do something for you?"

"Well, erm… I was, well, you see, er… I was wondering if I could talk to James?" Lily squeaked.

"Of course," said Mrs. Livingston, giving her a knowing smile. "I'll go get him."

"Thank you."

After the housekeeper had disappeared from the doorway, Lily bolted for the steps, but invisible hands grabbed her ankles, sending her scrawling headfirst down the steps.

"Lily?" asked a voice.

Damn it. She spit out a mouthful of sand and looked up to see James Potter staring down at her. "I er… tripped," she said helplessly as he scrambled down to help her up. "Thanks." Lily brushed sand off the front of her dressing gown and she saw James squinting at her as if he was wondering whether or not she was really there.

She looked at him for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Mrs. Livingston said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Ah erm… yes, about that…" Lily trailed off and decided to try a different approach. How exactly did you go about kissing your arch-enemy? They certainly didn't write self-help books about this. "Close your eyes," she ordered. He obliged.

Lily stared at him for a moment before finally saying, "Never mind. Open your eyes."

"Alright…" said James, opening them. He was unsure where she was going with all this.

Lily chewed her pinky nail thoughtfully. Finding no better ideas, she muttered, "Oh bugger, this is hopeless-" and flung her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his.

James stumbled backward, startled for a moment. What the hell was she doing? Is she kissing me? Merlin, she's kissing me! Dazed, his arms went around her waist and he kissed her back, unsure what was happening, but happy just the same.

Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty! Lily broke away from him, breathing hard.

"…the hell? What the hell?" murmured James, which seemed to be the only thing he could say. He stared at her, his arms still on her waist.

Lily stared back at him. Why didn't she have the urge to vomit or at least spit all over the ground? Why did she suddenly feel so safe and happy wrapped in his arms? Why was she grinning like an idiot at him?

Fear welled up inside her chest and she quickly disentangled herself from James's arms, murmuring, "Well erm… bye then," and darting off across the beach toward Hestia's.

Unbeknownst toLily and James, three nearly invisible shapes ran after her.

With a heaving sigh and another muttering of "What the hell?", James sat down on his front steps, wondering if he was dreaming or if Lily had suddenly gone mad.

* * *

Lily shook as she sat with her arms around her knees on the floor, wondering what was wrong with her. Did she miss Andy so much that all those emotions had made her think any kiss was special? Andy… She pictured him for a moment, tall, dark blonde, brown-eyed Andy. Nothing, no shiver of excitement, no butterflies, nothing. WHAT THE HELL? 

Suddenly, Lily noticed the door open and three vague shimmers enter. "Hello," she said, her voice shaking with unshed tears. "You better not make medo that ever again, Emmeline." She pretended to shudder. "I think it's my turn to decide who goes next."

"Take the Disillusionment Charm off us first," said a disembodied voice that sounded like Hestia.

Wordlessly, Lily mutter the counter to the charm and the three girls materialized in front of her.

"Are you sure you still want to play?" asked Emmeline, touching Lily's shoulder, a look of concern on her face. She wasn't sure that dare had been a good idea anymore.

"Yes, why wouldn't I?" asked Lily, her voice bright with false cheer. "Hestia, truth or dare?"

They continued playing, but the game lacked much of the enthusiasm they'd had before Lily's dare. Everyone's minds were elsewhere. Lily was thinking about James and Andy, Hestia was worried about Lily, Monica was daydreaming about Sirius, and Emmeline was growing increasingly concerned with Lily and James and Monica and Sirius.

Finally, Emmeline had an idea right as it became her turn to ask a question. "Monica, truth or dare?" she said smoothly, praying Monica would choose the right one.

"Dare."

"Tell Sirius how you feel about him."

* * *

AHA-grins widely- Cliffie, aren't I evil? Em's quite the devious little thing, isn't she? Don't hate her! Admit it, you'd all do the same thing in her position! Admit it! Anyway I'm hoping to make it up to one hundred reviews! I believe I'm at ninety-three right so let's get the ball rolling people! Seven more reviews! I hope you all enjoyed the Truth or Dare! I know I did-grins evilly- **E.D.J.**


	23. Emmeline Finally Snaps

**Disclaimer- **I disclaim it all, and then disclaim it again for good measure.

**Authoress's Note-** (grins evilly) Kind of left you with a cliffie there last chapter, didn't I? (innocent smile) Oh you all know you love me anyway! Right? RIGHT! (pouts) **E.D.J.**

**Thank you! Reviews are great!**

**anniePADFOOT- **Ah keeping me on my toes, aren't ya?I completely forgot about the no magic outside of schol bit. And I'm supposed to know canon very well. Whoops. Well, I'll just go with J.K.'s explanation on her site that Lily most likely tested the laws against underage wizardry like Harry and probably received a few letters about it, but nothing too serious. Perhaps in a future chapter, I'll adda bit about Lily receiving awarning letter.

**ThelovelyladyLily- **Oh yes, I've known since I started posting fanfiction that Sirius has GREY eyes. Pisses me off too when they get his eye color wrong. I'm glad you liked the throwing crumpets and psycho bits. I was just thinking, "Alright, they're having tea. Would the Marauders just really sit down and HAVE tea?" (laughs)

**brooklyngirl- **That's very cool about the author of Mary Poppins and the movie of it. I'llbe sure to DEMAND they let me approve everything before they turn anything of MINE into a movie. Yes, the Princess Diaries are awesome. I've been trying to find the next one because I believe a girl I know had it and was reading it, but when I checked online it said the book wasn't coming out till March. (scratches head) Either I was confused or she's got CONNECTIONS. Damn, wish I had connections. Love/hate relationships with extremely attractive boys do sound incredibly appealing. (drifts off into daydreams) Oops sorry. (grin) It's very interesting that you wish you were in Emmeline's position and had friends like Monica so you could dare your friends into acknowledging their love/hate relationships!

**blondedork**- I'm glad you loved the Truth or Dare bit. I was happy with it, but wasn't sure if anyone else would be. (breathes) Em, absolute genius? I would have to agree with you wholeheartedly on that one.

**Tash- **Ah evil is good. Evil is very good. (evil grin) That's alright if you can't review much. Two months of summer holidays? You must be south of the equator because it's horrible winter north of it! Ah liked the Ella Enchanted movie but haven't read the book? I'll just tell you, the book and movie have very little and common and frankly the books its boatloads better. You should read it! I'm glad you like Tamora Pierce though! She rocks my socks!

**MagicFairyDuster**- No, no Em/Sirius coming along even if they are similar. She's perfectly content and happy with ickle Remmy! (hugs ickle Remmy) I'm glad you liked how I fitted a bit of every relationship into the last chapter! Oh yes Lily would need lots of balls to marry James Potter! (laughs) I'm glad you thought Sirius was delish even when insane and slight scary!

**berty- **Lucky number one hundred indeed!(cheers) Yeah I apologize for taking this off of MuggleNet but it was difficult to update on two different sites and frankly I was getting a bit frustrated with having to wait for each chapter to be approved by them. I realize it's to keep some of the worse fics off, but it's frustrating.

**Skippy**- Ooh another one who thinks Em wasn't evil! Thanks! I was slightly afraid I was going to get some nasty review saying, "Oh how could Em do that to people who are supposed to be her friends! She's so mean etc... and so forth." I'm glad I didn't get any of those!

**Akasha of Night**- Evil am I? (grins evilly) Yes, I know I've very very evil. I'm glad you liked Truth or Dare as well!

**MeadowRunner**- Yes, read almost all of Tamora Pierce's books. I still have to get my hands on some copies of her Circle of Magic and Circle Opens books but I've read everything else I believe. I'm glad you liked all my views of character relationships! Glad someone agrees with me! Merlin, everyone's saying I'm evil! Ah, well I am evil, so it's all good! Ah, the 'don't Lily and James get together in seventh year?' question. Yes, they do. They won't be getting together in this fic! You'll see. I WILL be writing a sequel though and I'm contemplating extending it a bit to seventh year after the sixth year to seventh year summer, so again you'll see. Great question! Ideas? Fire away.I love ideas! Can't say for sure if I'll use them, but I'll be sure to contemplate them!

**Nico**- Ah right little ray of sunshine, aren't you? While I appreciate your honesty, I would like more constructive criticism in a review please. That was mostly just insults, which I'm not necessarily fine with, but I can tolerate them. In small doses. And the little 'fake-out' bit? Not entertaining at all. You could get a LOT of writers pissed at you that way.

* * *

**Ch. 23- Emmeline Finally Snaps**

_They continued playing, but the game lacked much of the enthusiasm they'd had before Lily's dare. Everyone's minds were elsewhere. Lily was thinking about James and Andy, Hestia was worried about Lily, Monica was daydreaming about Sirius, and Emmeline was growing increasingly concerned with Lily and James and Monica and Sirius. _

_Finally, Emmeline had an idea right as it became her turn to ask a question. "Monica, truth or dare?" she said smoothly, praying Monica would choose the right one._

"_Dare."_

"_Tell Sirius how you feel about him."_

"WHAT?" shrieked Hestia, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Em, you can't do that to her," said Lily quietly. "It's really not fair."

Monica, however, was silent though she shook slightly.

"Mon," said Emmeline gently. "It's time. You knew you'd have to do this sometime."

"But why?" whispered Monica, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "Why does it have to be so hard?"

"It doesn't!" snapped Emmeline, failing to keep a hold on her temper. "You're the one who's making it so difficult with all your excuses! You fancy Sirius and he fancies you! It's that simple, Mon! I don't understand why you can't see that!"

Monica flinched at Emmeline's words but said nothing.

"Em," Hestia put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "you're being unreasonable-"

"Unreasonable?" spat Emmeline, jumping away from Hestia and rising to her feet. "Unreasonable? You don't think I deserve a little something? A break from all this plotting and drama? Time with my boyfriend maybe? I've done nothing but spend nearly my entire summer holiday trying to get Monica and Sirius to admit their feelings for each other! I've schemed with the Marauders! I've tried to help Sirius change a bit so he would fit the little 'ideal boyfriend' picture Mon's so obsessive over! I've tried to nudge Mon in the right direction! I've done it all! But _no_, they're both still too stubborn and afraid to do anything! You know what?"

She whirled on Monica, her face contorted in untold fury.

"I'm through! I'm finished! You're on your own, Mon! I have no cards whatsoever left to play in this _endless_ game! I'm tired of it! I'm done with all this 'nudging you in the right direction' rubbish! Here's a good hard shove, Monica Almira Longbottom! You tell that damn boy how you feel about him and forget about all the baggage and history that may come with him! It shouldn't matter if Sirius shagged 'Miss so and so' last October! What matters is that he fancies and cares about _you_ now! And if that wasn't true, I don't think he'd be spending all his fucking time trying to make you see that! Because, quite frankly, Mon, Sirius Black can get any girl he damn pleases, and he wouldn't be trying this hard if he didn't think it'd all be worth it in the end!"

Emmeline exhaled, glared at her three friends for a moment, and then stormed down the stairs.

Lily, Hestia, and Monica all stared at each other, rather horrified by all the shouting and profanity that had just spilled out of their usually cool-headed friend.

Finally, Hestia broke the silence. "Monica, you really don't have any idea of all the time she's invested in you. She told me about it this afternoon. Em has every right to be wound-up after all the stuff she's done for you."

Monica nodded and tried to say something, but her voice caught in her throat.

Lily was still as ashen-faced and confused about James and Andy as ever. "Well, I think I'm off to bed," she said faintly.

With that, she disappeared into her bedroom.

"Mon, are you going to be alright?" asked Hestia, her voice full of concern as she brushed a strand of wavy blonde hair from Monica's green eyes.

Monica sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. "Eventually, Hestia," she murmured. "Now, tell all this _stuff_ Em's been doing for me…"

* * *

Emmeline stormed across the sand toward the Potters', her face hot as tears of rage and frustration spilled down her face. 

Monica was right. Why did it have to be so hard? Why hadn't all her efforts done more? Was it possible that everything was beyond her help now? Did she have to leave it all up to _fate_?

Emmeline grimaced. She didn't like that idea of relinquishing control. She sighed and banged her head against the Potters' door as a way of knocking.

The door quickly opened as James had moved his little 'mooning over Lily' party into the front hall.

"Em?" James asked. "Are you alright?"

Emmeline let out a loud sob and threw her arms around him, burying her head in his shoulder.

James stumbled backward, quite bewildered. Had he unknowingly used some of Sirius's cologne or something and now every girl in existence was throwing themselves at him?

"Em?" he said gently, looking down at the top of her light brown hair. "Should we go inside to Remus?"

She let out another sob, which James took to mean as a yes, and he half-dragged Emmeline inside since she still refused to let go of him.

By the time he got up the stairs, James was very frustrated and called out, "Moony, if you don't come get your girlfriend off me, I'll hex her!"

Remus's head appeared in the doorway of the sitting room. "What are you…" He trailed off as he caught sight of Emmeline.

He then crossed the hall in three long strides.

"Em?" Remus asked tentatively, touching her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Emmeline began crying again and latched herself onto Remus.

"What did you do, Prongs?" asked Remus, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

"Nothing!" protested James, throwing up his hands. "She showed up like this!"

Remus sighed and turned his attentions back to Emmeline. "Em, we'll go sit down and you can tell us what's wrong, alright?"

Emmeline nodded wordlessly, and Remus slowly maneuvered her into an armchair in the sitting room, talking soothingly to her the whole time.

Emmeline's sobs slowly quieted, she wiped at her eyes. Peter, who had been in the sitting room playing chess with Remus, handed her a handkerchief, which she took gratefully.

"I can't do this anymore!" Emmeline said, her voice wavering. "Nothing's working!"

"Can't do what?" asked James.

"All this plotting over Monica and Sirius!" she murmured, biting her lip to keep back another wave of tears.

"Go get Padfoot," James ordered Peter and Peter hurried downstairs to the kitchen where Sirius had reportedly been seen last.

"I've just ruined everything!" wailed Emmeline. She blew her nose loudly. "Nothing's different! Lily and James are still at odds and Monica and Sirius are no closer to getting together than Hestia and James are!"

"Hey!" shouted James, covering his ears. "Don't say things like that about me and girls I've known forever! It's wrong!"

"Em, don't be so hard on yourself," said Remus, stroking the back of her hand. "Monica and Sirius are both single now because of you. You can't try to control ever little part of this; some things are out of your hands."

Emmeline sniffled. "I know, but what am I supposed to do? Leave it all up to fate?"

She wrinkled up her nose in disgust.

Remus laughed and kissed her tear-streaked cheek. "Well, maybe not fate, just Monica and Sirius."

Just then, the door was flung open and Peter appeared, white-faced.

"Padfoot's gone."

* * *

_Meanwhile at the Jones's residence…_

Monica gaped as Hestia finished telling her about all the plotting Emmeline and the Marauders had done.

"She actually consented to be an honorary Marauder?" Monica squeaked, staring at Hestia, wide-eyed. "Didn't she realize what sort of things that title implies?"

Hestia grinned slightly. "I'm not sure she had much choice in the matter." She squinted at Monica. "Are you angry with Em now?"

Monica sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "No, I suppose she was only doing what she thought was best for the situation. Unfortunately, what _Emmeline Vance_ thinks is best isn't always particularly effective."

"Is this one of those times?" asked Hestia cautiously.

Monica hesitated for a moment, and then her face broke out into her first real smile in a long time.

"No. Emmeline's tactics were wonderfully effective, and I'll kill her for it." Monica smirked slightly. "Would you excuse me, Hestia? I think I fancy a walk."

* * *

Everyone stared at Peter, dumbfounded. 

"What do you mean Padfoot's _gone_?" squawked James, his voice cracking slightly.

"Exactly what I meant, Prongs. He's not in the kitchen."

"Did you check everywhere else?"

"Yes."

"The sitting room?"

"Yes, he's not there."

"The greenhouse?"

"Not there."

"The library?"

Peter snorted loudly. "Nope, not a dickybird."

"The-"

Peter stomped his foot impatiently. "Prongs, this could go on for a while. I checked everywhere, and then when I got back to the kitchen, I found this."

He held up a scrap of parchment, and everyone leaned over so they could read:

_Marauders, Em, anyone else who happens to find this, _

_Gone out to clear my head. Don't wait up._

_Padfoot_

"Well, that doesn't tell us anything!" snapped James, exasperated.

"Of course it does, Prongs," said Remus with a sigh. "He's obviously not anywhere around the house."

"But what if he's-"

"Prongs," said Remus firmly, "Padfoot's perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He wouldn't want us worry."

"Fine, fine," said James flatly. "What do we do now? Just wait?"

"I suppose if-" began Emmeline, but just then, the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house.

"I'll get it," offered Peter, and with that, he disappeared down the stairs.

Emmeline, James, and Remus sat around, moodily contemplating what else they could do.

"It's really out of our hands, isn't it?" said Remus a few minutes later. "I mean, it's up to them now."

They all sighed.

"I hate that," mumbled Emmeline. "I really hate that."

James and Remus murmured in agreement.

"Horrible feeling, uncertainty," grumbled James, running a hand through his hair nervously. "Locking them up together somewhere would have been so much easier. But _no_, no one every listens to my ideas!"

Emmeline and Remus laughed.

"James, that's because your ideas are almost always as bad as Sirius's," said Emmeline with a smirk. "Remus and I are the brains of this outfit."

"I don't feel the need to acknowledge your existence any longer, Emmeline," said James snidely, promptly turning his back on her and attempting to have a conversation with Remus over his shoulder. "So, Moony, how've you been?"

"Same old, same old," said Remus, slinging an arm around Emmeline's shoulders. "Plotting, being amazed at how much food Sirius can inhale in one sitting, snogging my girlfriend-"

"Remus!" shrieked Emmeline, hitting him upside the head with a pillow and scooting a good foot away from him.

"What it's true!" said Remus defensively.

"But, well, you didn't have to be so… blunt about it," she murmured, her cheeks quite red now.

James, seeming to forget that he was no longer acknowledging her existence, spun around to smirk at Emmeline.

"Aww, Em's blushing!" he said mockingly, holding a hand to his heart.

"Am not," growled Emmeline, burying her face in Remus's shoulder.

Just then, the door was flung open for the second time that night.

"Will you stop that?" hissed James, spinning around after nearly jumping out of his skin.

He was surprised to see not Peter, but a breathless Hestia standing in the doorway. Peter appeared a few moments later, panting heavily after the dash up the stairs.

"Em! Em!" shrieked Hestia, stumbling over to her friend, a faint gleam to her eyes.

"What?" asked Emmeline, removing her face from Remus's shoulder.

"Monica's gone!"

"What now we've lost her as well?" moaned James, beating a pillow with a fist.

"No, she said she 'fancied a walk'," said Hestia secretively, a smirk appearing on her face.

"No," breathed Emmeline, her eyes widening with triumph. "She didn't."

"She did."

"That's funny Sirius is out somewhere too," said James offhandedly.

"What?" screeched Hestia. She whirled on Emmeline. "So, that means they might-"

"Yes."

"And neither of them have any idea that-"

"Nope."

"And if she's actually going to do what I think she's going to do then this might be-"

"It," finished Emmeline.

"Did I miss something here?" snapped James, turning his head from Hestia to Emmeline. "Blokes don't understand girl!"

Hestia mouthed 'obviously' and Emmeline used every last ounce of her patience to say slowly, "Monica and Sirius are both out. They might run into each other. And we think she's going to tell him that she fancies him, so this might be-"

"It!" yelled James, pumping his fist in the air. "Padfoot, you're in for a rather pleasant surprise!"

* * *

I actually managed to delay 'it' another chapter, didn't I? (innocent smile) Oh, well you know I just couldn't resist... Review? **E.D.J.**


	24. All It Takes Is A Little Moonlight

**Disclaimer**- I disclaim it all though I've never claimed any of it in the first place.

**Authoress's Note- **Hello, I'm back! I've been away a bit, haven't I? And I left you at a very crucial turning point of the story too, didn't I? Yes, I know shame shame Elladora you'll have to do better! Anyway as a few of you have guessed this story is nearing its end. (tears) I predict between two and three chapters are left to wrap things up (they aren't written yet, so...), BUT there will be a sequel! (jumps up and down excitedly) It will be the summer between sixth and seventh year with a lot more Lily/Jamesness. I will most likely provide the title of this coming sequel and a few hints for what I have planned for it in the last chapter of this fic. Happy reading! **E.D.J.**

**(1) **In case anyone's not well educated in astronomy, this is the shape of the moon right before it turns full. A three-fourths moon if you will.

**(2) **I credit this to my uncle who said it over Christmas, and I thought it was hilarious.

**Beautiful reviews! How I love thee!**

**ThelovelyladyLily- **Ah forgiving people for getting Sirius's eye color wrong is nice! Just give them a little nudging review that says they'd better change them or else! Or else what you ask? Well that is for me to know and you to find out... (cue evil laughter) I'm glad you liked clinging, hysterical Em! Heh heh. That scene was quite fun to write. Yes, stupid blokes. No understanding of the girl language whatsoever. If you didn't see the above, yes this story is winding down. I predict two to three chapters are left just to tie up a few loose ends.

**Skippy**- I'm glad you liked the 'Blokes don't understand girl!' part as well. Heh. Yep it's quite true. And your welcome about the information about buying LifeStrong bracelets via my review of Serena van der Woodsen!

**brooklyngirl**- Ooh how would you kill your friend with a spork and two pineapples? Oh the mind boggles! I would be upset too if one of my friends got Lady Knight before it was released (if I'd been into the books when it was released. I just discovered Tamora Pierce last year)! Huff... Yes I know I am most unkind for making you wait for 'it' but I'm evil that way!

**Auramistealia-** I'm glad you like the story!

**MagicFairyDuster- **Yes oh so much tension and I'm glad you love James's one-liners. Hee hee. Yep it IS always the quiet ones who turn biserk, innit it?

**Tash- **I'm glad you liked the chapter even though I delayed 'it' even more! Ooh you're from Australia, the Land Down Under? Most cool. And I assume when you say it was 35 degrees you mean Celcius (is that how you spell that? We don't use it except in science. (shrugs) because 35 degrees Fahrenheit (Merlin, I don't even know if the degrees we use here is spelled right! I'm hopeless...) is rather cold and not boiling! And you've never seen snow! (gasps) Don't they have mountains with snow anywhere in Australia? Go find some and see some snow!

**vixen black**- Appreciate your honesty but constructive criticism would have been much better than a mere insult.

* * *

**Ch. 24- All It Takes Is A Little Moonlight**

Sirius blinked up at the waxing gibbous of a moon **(1) **floating eerily above the dark sea waves as he wrestled tiredly with his tumulus thoughts. The moon would be full soon, and that meant Moony's transformation would in evidently occur. Sirius grinned inwardly despite his grim demeanor; he knew that even when the four of them were in France, they'd find some way to make this coming full moon memorable.

He needed something to cheer him up because, quite frankly, the entire summer holiday thus far had been a bloody nightmare: one disaster after another. Whether all of those disasters had been solely Sirius's fault was yet to be seen, but, in his mind, each and every plan had been smashed into a thousand, irreparable pieces—no matter who had caused it.

And what was he left with? Absolutely squat. And a nice steaming bowl of squat **(2)** wasn't worth much these days.

Sirius ran his fingers through his dark hair and sighed. Had the plan to change himself for… _her_ had any effect whatsoever? He wasn't sure it had, and, now that he thought about it, Sirius wasn't sure he wanted it to have the effect he'd first intended. Why did he want to be with someone who couldn't accept him for who he really was? What was the point of changing so much of himself that irked Monica when in evidently he'd revert back and get her angry and loathing him once more?

The whole façade seemed to have much too many holes than Sirius could count, and he vaguely wondered why he hadn't noticed them before.

Perhaps he'd allowed his friends too much control over the situation.

No, that wasn't it. No one had forced him to follow their advice, and he knew that they had only good intentions at heart.

No, Sirius knew he had only himself to blame for the mess that had become his life, romantic or otherwise.

"So what are you going to do about it?" piped up the little voice in his head that always sounded a bit too much like Remus for Sirius's liking.

"I dunno," Sirius murmured.

"You're hopeless," replied the voice, a touch of wryness to it. "Completely hopeless."

* * *

Monica dug her toes into the soft wet sand at the edge of the water and shivered as the cool waves crawled up the shore to lap around her bare feet before retreating once more. 

When she'd set out from Hestia's house, Monica hadn't had a definite plan as to what she wanted to do. All she knew was that she had to do _something_.

She'd actually gotten up the nerve to try and call on the Potters's home, but their house elf had informed her that 'young Master Black' was out. A wave of relief had washed over her followed by a stab of guilt.

So Sirius was out? He had to come back sometime! And then…

Monica didn't allow herself to think further because most likely any thoughts involving 'and then' would send her hightailing it back home to England in mere minutes.

So Monica waited. And waited. What was taking the bloke so bleeding long?

"Maybe he's off shagging that French blonde wench," suggested the more treacherous part of her mind.

"But they broke up!" protested Monica out loud, a hind of panic edging her voice.

"So?" replied the awful voice icily. "That never stopped him before."

"That's not true! You're wrong!" she squawked, putting her hands to her ears in an effort to block out the voice.

"Am I?" said the voice lightly. "Am I wrong? Ah I can just see them now… their clothes flung all over the room—"

"Stop it!" shouted Monica, feeling angry tears prickle her eyes as she fought that horrible part of herself. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! He's not like that! I know he's not like that!"

And, as soon as Monica voiced that profound belief in Sirius Black's moral character, the voice stopped, and she was filled with certainty and new-found hope in what she was trying to do.

* * *

Both Sirius and Monica were each lost in their own thoughts when Sirius felt his foot catch on something, and Monica looked up to see the dark shape that had kicked her in the side go flying through the air and tumble head over heels into the sand beside her. 

"_Longbottom_?" he yelped, sucking in a long breath as he stood up and brushed sand out of his hair and clothes. "What the hell are you doing out here so late?"

"Same thing as you," retorted Monica somewhat defensively, crossing her arms over her chest and peering up at Sirius as he cursed and shook even more sand out of his dark hair.

"Brooding over your messed up life then?"

"Pretty much."

"Fun, isn't it?" said Sirius, more than a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Not particularly," she replied evenly, keeping her gaze fixed on the tumbling waves, so he couldn't see how red her eyes were.

"Well, sorry for tripping over you, Longbottom," said Sirius, stuffing his hands into his pockets and turning toward the Potters's house further up the beach.

"No, wait," said Monica, leaping up and catching his arm. "Please. Just stay here with me for a little while."

Sirius bit his tongue to keep back the resounding "yes" that was trying to force its way out of his mouth. Instead he scuffed his foot in the sand and murmured, "I don't think I should. I mean—"

"Sirius Black!" she shouted, letting her temper get the better of her. "If you would just pull yourself out of your little pity party for just one minute, so I could tell you—"

"What? Tell me what?" he cut in hotly. "How much of a git you think I am? How much you hate me? How you think the only reason I could possibly fancy you is because I'd like to get you into bed?" Sirius's voice shook with barely contained rage. "Believe me, I've already heard all that from your friends."

Monica gawked at him and said meekly, her voice barely above a whisper: "They—they told you that?"

"Yes!" he snapped. "And frankly I think it's horrible for you to think that you're so high and mighty that you can judge people without even getting to know them!"

She gaped soundlessly at him for a few moments before slowly saying, "I guess I deserved that…"

"You're damn right you do!"

"And you have every right to be angry…"

"You're damn right I do!" interjected Sirius.

"I'd just like you to know that I don't think that about you anymore," Monica murmured, not meeting his eyes. "I think actually I _know_ that… I fancy you as well."

"I mean really how could you… you _what_?" he exclaimed, unable to believe his ears.

"I fancy you, Sirius," she said, grinning slightly. "And I'm beginning to wonder why it took me so long to see it."

"When? How? Are you sure it just wasn't because I tried not to act like myself, so you wouldn't hate me quite so much?" Sirius asked suspiciously. "Because I don't think I can stay like that for much longer."

To his surprise, Monica laughed. "While it _was_ nice to not have you trying to charm me every hour of the day, I think your normal self is adorable: charm, innuendos, and all." She winced suddenly. "Just not _too _dirty of innuendos?"

"I'll try," said Sirius, grinning for the first time in a long, grim day. "So… what's next?"

"I think this is the part where you either kiss me or ask me out. Or both." She grinned wickedly. "Aren't you supposed to be the resident expert in that particular department?"

"Yes, but—" Sirius stammered, backing away from Monica's Cheshire cat grin. He yelped when his feet were immersed in cold seawater.

"But what?" she asked innocently, batting her eyelashes coyly and following right along after him, not minding the water at all.

"I dunno," Sirius admitted. "But—"

Just then, he stumbled on an unseen rock below the surface of the water and fell on his arse, cursing as the cold water bit through his clothing.

Sighing deeply, Monica stuck out a hand to help him up.

With a wicked grin, Sirius grabbed her hand and yanked her down in the water beside him.

"Sirius!" she shrieked, splashing water at him. "Damn you! You, you, you awful—"

He cut her off by doing the thing he did best. He kissed her—hard.

* * *

Heh heh. (cheeky grin) Decided I'd make it just long enough to make Sirius and Monica finally admit their feelings for each other, kiss, et cetera actually there really is no et cetera. They're not going to be doing more than kissing, folks! Just a warning in case you were getting your hopes up for _that_. Anyway also the chapter is short enough to leave ya'll wantin' more! (winks) Hopefully... Anyway I hope you all thought it was as cute as I did! Then again, I'm a terrible romantic who would probably think anything they'd do was cute... Reviews? **E.D.J.**  



	25. Sleep Deprivation and A Boys' Night In

**Disclaimer**- As of now, 12:14 a.m., I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. Ooh now it's 12:15! Damn still don't own anything.

**Authoress's Note**- Wow, I seem to have a bout of hopelessly romantic readers on my hands! (cheeky grin) Wonderful for reviews! Anyway I'm nearly positive that the next chapter will be the end, and then voile sequel! Hope you all the like the (hopefully) second to last chapter of Summer with the Arrogant Prat! Oh and everyone please read the letter on my bio page for an update on me and certain recent events. Ta! **E.D.J.**

**Reviews! Oh so wonderful reviews!**

**ThelovelyladyLily- **Yes, it's quite hard to be forgiving when someone gets James's eye color wrong when the writer could have easily looked up in OoP. Or even easier, online! Yes, great reviewer who reads author's notes! Thank you! I'm glad you think voices in people's heads are comical! I enjoyed making Monica squirm. Heh heh. And yep, sarcasm, the best. Ah when I said 'coyly' I meant the meaning as 'shyly', but the whole batting her eyelashes bit was merely Monica acting like a dork because come on does anyone bat their eyelashes at blokes anymore? Ah, secretly hopelessly romantic, hm. Meaning you are hopelessly romantic but you don't want people to find out? (laughs) That's probably me as well.

**Auramistealia- **Hopeless romantic! (pumps fist) Yes! Never been kissed eh? It's blush-worthy to admit but ... me too. Experience extends to books, so ... yeah. Seen the movie with Drew Barrymore? You'll get there. And me too! Hopefully not when we're around twenty-five though. (shudders) Yeah, some of the stuff on here can get a little ... ugh.

**you-don't-understand- **Another romantic! (confetti) Sorry, I think it's great how many people have admitted to it. You shouldn't hate that about yourself! You just have to get a bloke who's willing to be romantic and then POOF romantic fantasies and dreams come true! I'm glad you thought the end was cute. Me too. But then again I wrote it so I would think it was cute ... eh, who cares? Crazy Chats has been updated! Which of course you already know seeing as you reviewed the newest chapter, and Seven Years of Marauding will be updated ... eventually! I left you all at a big event here, so I decided to update this first! Besides, I've been itching to write further on this!

**MagicFairyDuster- **(laughs) Yes, finally! I hope you mean ending as in ending to the chapter because that wasn't the end of the story! See? (points to chapter below) Oh Merlin, THANK YOU for the compliment on my 'writer's craft' as you put it. It was greatly appreciated and really made me smile! Hee I'm glad you think my uncle's funny. He said that over Christmas when we went to one of those wildlife sanctuary's you can drive through. We saw about two animals (a raccoon and an alligator if I recall correctly) on the entire drive and he said something along the line of: "Look at that! A nice steaming bowl of SQUAT!" Hilarious.

**Pauly-85- **Wow three days! How dedicated you are! Thanks! Thank you for the compliments!

**Skippy- **Yes, IT happened! And yes the other IT will happen in the sequel! (giggles) Marissa? Been watching a bit to much of the O.C., Skippy? (coughs, not that I have watched that ever ... alright three episodes!) I think you mean Monica. No worries though I forgive dedicated reviewers like you! Yes, that line was most amusing!

**vixen black- **Wow you read further? (Unless you're not the same vixen black who reviewed before ...) I'm happy you read more since in the first review you sent, you didn't sound too happy with the story. I'm glad you couldn't find the right words to express the romanticness of it! That's a great response!

**Reader4ever- **I'm glad you liked the first chapter! Hmm ... DADA was probably Harry's last O.W.L. but I believed I could safely assume that the O.W.Ls aren't so set in stone that they couldn't be switched around thirty years ago! I'll have to take a look at the chapter ending you found confusing. Perhaps I missed a divider or can give it a small rewrite. Well, there's not really anything that says they don't have maids and house-elves, but hmm. We can safely assume the Jones family has house elves as well; perhaps I'll edit the maid into a house-keeper like James's who can regulate the house-elves's chores or something. (shrugs) Ah yes I've noticed the James shouldn't be allowed to use magic outside of school. I'll edit it to shouting or we can say that James didn't really care about the restriction on underage wizardry and he didn't do it front of Muggles or blow anything up, so we can maybe say the Ministry wouldn't be too miffed at him. Yes, flying on mops! (laughs) Got that from a Harry Potter dream I had. I played Quidditch and there were mops to fly on. No idea why. I also was dating Remus, heh heh. Liked that dream.

**hiei's lil dragon- **Hm. Got your review three times. But eh, more reviews for me! (hugs reviews) Yes, Gavin is weird and a freak. If you didn't notice he was inspired by a character Alec Baldwin played named Parker on Friends. Sadly to say, Parker was just as bad as Gavin.

**m-girls- **One of the best? (smug grin) Thanks!

* * *

**Chapter 25- Sleep-Deprivation and A Boys' Night In**

"Oy, Marauders! Anyone awake?" Sirius bellowed, as he and Monica made their way up the stairs of the Potters' house.

Well, seeing as it was four in the morning, if anyone _wasn't_ awake, they certainly were _now_.

Monica squeezed Sirius's hand and then opened the door to the Marauders' sitting room.

They were instantly met by a barrage of falling bodies that all shouted out loud curses as they fell; it seemed James, Hestia, Remus, Emmeline, and Peter had all had their ears pressed up against the door, listening for Monica and Sirius's arrival.

Everyone disentangled themselves from each other—all grumbling darkly about what a stupid idea that was—and stood up. They looked from Monica to Sirius and then back again before bursting out in an array of approval.

"Finally!"

"'Bout time!"

"Took you two long enough!"

"Lily will have a fit when she finds out she slept through _this_!"

"It's four a.m.! What were you two _doing_?"

James raised and eyebrow at them, and healthy blushes rose up on both Sirius and Monica's cheeks.

"What'll we do with the pair of you?" Remus tutted, following James's lead and smirking slightly.

"Oh no …" began Sirius, backing away slowly and tugging Monica protectively along after him.

"Aw, Padfoot, you know it's tradition!" Peter pointed out, his eyes glittering with amusement.

"To hell with tradi—"

In an instant, Sirius was torn quite forcibly away from Monica, and the three boys pounded him violently on the back amid loud cat calls.

The three girls looked on for a few moments, murmuring "blokes" and shaking their heads.

Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, Monica flung her arms around Emmeline and burst into happy tears.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" she said severely into her friend's ear.

Emmeline grinned. "Well, Mon, you got a good-looking bloke out of the whole ordeal, so I think you'll live."

"Yeah," murmured Monica, gratefully taking a handkerchief from Hestia and dabbing at her eyes.

"She's _crying_!" said a stunned voice, and Monica looked up to see the four Marauders staring at her and Emmeline Hestia looking as if they could barely contain their giggles.

"Can't a girl cry because she's happy?" she snapped, glaring at them.

"And sleep-deprived," added Hestia with a small smile.

"Off to bed then," said Emmeline sternly, and she steered Monica toward the door.

"Wait!" Sirius strode over and quickly kissed Monica. "See you tomorrow."

"It _is _tomorrow, you dolt," she pointed out waspishly, but she grinned at him.

"Alright, alright," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Em, Hest, just make sure she gets some sleep. We can't have her biting everyone's heads off; she has to save some of that for the Slytherins next term."

"I have enough irritableness for the Slytherins and then some!" Monica protested tiredly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Of course you do," said Hestia soothingly. "Now go, Mon."

"Fine, fine." She turned to Sirius and smiled. "G'night, Black."

He grinned back. "G'night, Longbottom."

"Come _on_, you bloody love bird!"

With that, Hestia and Emmeline shoved Monica out the door.

* * *

The next day, everyone slept late due to how late they'd all been up the night before.

Lily had obviously been delighted to find out that Monica and Sirius had finally admitted their feelings for each other though the fact that she hadn't been their to congratulate them had provoked a lot of cursing on her part.

She'd pushed her mixed feelings about Andy and James to the back of her mind, deciding that if she didn't focus on her confusion, it would go away.

Nine o'clock that evening found the four Marauders gathered in their sitting room with the sofas, chairs, and bedrooms' wardrobes barricading the doors and windows. The boys sat on the floor—obviously due to the lack of seating—and James, Sirius, and Peter all looked anxiously at Remus out of the corners of their eyes.

He was pale and perspiring slightly, every once and a while throwing a despairingly glance out the small corner of window not blocked off at the rapidly darkening sky.

"Are you sure this'll work?" asked Peter, chewing his thumbnail worriedly. "I mean, it's nowhere near as secure as the Shrieking Shack."

"Are you suggesting we should figure out a way to get to Hogsmeade in the next fifteen minutes or so, Wormtail?" asked Sirius incredulously.

Peter shook his head.

"It's what I do at home over the holidays," said Remus hoarsely, a trickle of sweat rolling down his brow.

"Have you told Em yet?" James quietly inquired.

Remus looked at him, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Of course not! How in the name of Merlin do you tell someone that? 'Oh, honey, I just think you should know I turn into a rabid monster every month. Fancy a snog?'"

"Work on me," said Sirius absently.

Everyone stared at him in horror.

"You only heard the 'fancy a snog' bit, didn't you?" said James slowly. "And I dearly hope you meant if a _girl_ asked you that and not Moony."

"Merlin, I did! I did!" squawked Sirius, covering his ears and glowering at James.

Remus laughed throatily. "I'll tell her sometime, but you don't expect me to waltz over their right now, do you? It's a bit hard to speak when I'm snarling and foaming at the mouth."

Peter turned his head back toward his friends after a quick glance out the window. "About five minutes, mates. Reckon we should transform?"

"Your parents won't hear anything, right?" Remus asked James.

Obviously the Potters—excluding James of course—had no idea of Remus's 'condition'. Though a highly tolerant and understanding pair, it might have been a bit much to ask Mr and Mrs Potter to house a werewolf in their home for an entire summer.

"No, they're on the complete opposite side of the house. Besides, I convinced them to put Silencing Charms on all the rooms before we got here in June. They agreed that it was a good idea." James grinned.

Suddenly Remus went rigid, and his entire body began to shake violently.

"It's time!" he growled through clenched teeth. "Change! Now!"

With a flurry of movement, James, Peter, and Sirius formed a circle around Remus, and after a moment of intense concentration, each transformed into their own respective Animagus forms.

A loud yelp came from Remus and amidst his shaking he managed to hiss, "Prongs, foot!"

James back up a few feet, removing his hoof from Remus's foot, which was rapidly growing thick gray hair.

The stag, dog, and rat watched silently as their friend collapsed to the floor. Remus's nose lengthened until it was long and snout-like. Cruel-looking, inch-long teeth sprouted out of his whimpering mouth. His shoulders widened until with the sound of ripping fabric his shirt fell away, revealing more shaggy, gray fur. They watched as his nails lengthened into lethally sharp claws, and hands and feet became large paws. With the appearance of a long tufted, gray tail, the transformation was complete.

The large wolf lay on the floor, muscles shuddering in pain, until Sirius went over and nudged him gently with his black nose.

Remus leaped up, snarling, yellow eyes wild until they fell on the stag, dog, and rat. The killer instinct abated a bit, and he gave a loud snort and sat down, looking a bit a lost as to what he was supposed to do now.

The black dog wagged his tail in friendship, and the werewolf looked down his snout at Sirius with the same condescending look Remus had sometimes.

Remus's memory was foggy. He could remember glimpses of running around wild with these three animals, but he couldn't recall why. A word formed in his mind. _Friends_. These animals were friends.

The great stag shook his antlered head, looking a bit bored.

_Prongs_, said part of Remus's mind.

He turned to the dog, that seemed to have an amused glint in its eye.

_Padfoot_.

A rat scuttled out from behind one of the stag's hooves and cocked its head at Remus.

_Wormtail_.

With this remembering came a flood of other names that swirled through the werewolf's mind, causing to whimper with the painful barrage of information. _Mum. Dad. Dumbledore. McGonagall. Snivellus. Lily. Hestia. Monica. Emmeline._

Something struck a chord in Remus's mind at the name 'Emmeline'. Emmeline … Emmeline … He gave a growl of frustration, and, as if that was all the urging his mind needed, the image of a small, brown-haired girl flickered in front of his eye.

_Ah, that's Emmeline_.

The werewolf gave a sort of sigh, and the three other animals gave him funny looks. Remus glared at them, daring them to nudge him further. His hackles rose up, and he snarled.

In an instant, the rat scuttled under one of the furniture barricades and cowered, but the dog growled right back at him, and the stag gave a superior sort of snort.

_Testy berk_, thought Sirius, slightly miffed.

James and Sirius stared at Remus for a few moments until he lay down with a low, irritable growl.

This was going to be a long night with these two beasts guarding over him.

* * *

Meanwhile, the four girls were all curled up in their own sitting room, chatting amiably about the blokes in their lives.

"You know, Mon," said Lily, a wicked edge to her voice. "You never really told us how you and Sirius ended up together. We've all been dying to know."

"Oh, that," murmured Monica with a superior sort of grin. "Well, isn't that a story! Maybe I'll tell it to you sometime."

"That sometime will be now, Miss Longbottom," said Lily sternly, pulling her wand out of her pocket and raising it threateningly.

"We aren't allowed to do magic outside of school, Lily," Monica pointed out.

"I'm always willing to make an exception," she smirked.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you," surrendered Monica.

Emmeline and Hestia looked up eagerly from their half-hearted Exploding Snap game, which promptly exploded, singing the carpet and Hestia's hair.

After beating the sparks out of her hair, Hestia and Emmeline climbed into to armchairs and stared pointedly at Monica, urging her to start.

"Well, after I left here for my 'walk', I went to Potter's to see if Sirius was there," she began. "He wasn't; he was out. I reasoned he'd have to come back sometime, so I sat and waited. And waited. And then he tripped over me."

"He _what_?" asked Hestia incredulously.

"Tripped over me."

Lily, Hestia, and Emmeline burst out into hysterical laughter, and Monica glared at them.

"What is so funny? It _hurt_." She rubbed the bruise on her side and muttered darkly.

"You, you," gasped Emmeline through bursts of laughter. "You literally swept _him_ off his feet!"

This caused everyone including Monica to burst into hysterics once more. When they'd gotten a hold on themselves once more, Monica began again.

"We were both a bit snarky with each after that, and then … I just told him."

"Just like that?" said Emmeline, staring at her. "It took a slipup from me for Remus to realize I fancied him." A blush rose up on her cheeks at the thought.

"What'd he do when you told him?" prodded Lily excitedly.

"He—he didn't believe me at first," said Monica with a slight laugh. "I had to reassure him that I was serious, and then he was all flustered."

"Sirius Black? Flustered?" repeated Hestia in amazement. "I'd pay just about anything to see that."

"He was a bit flustered when he found out Mon had gone to go break up with Gavin," Emmeline pointed out.

"Was he now?" said Monica, smirking. "Interesting. Anyway he was flustered and then he fell over into the water."

"He fell over _again_?" said Lily disbelievingly. "Being near you really makes him clumsy, Mon."

Monica snorted. "I reached down to help him up, and the great prat pulled me down in the water too."

"He didn't!" gasped Hestia, her hands flying to her mouth in an urge not to laugh. "What'd you do then?"

"Yelled at him and then—to shut me up I think—he kissed me." She smiled secretively, relishing the memory.

"Merlin, now _that_ is romantic," groaned Lily, leaning back and closing her eyes. "I wish Andy would do something like that."

Hestia sighed wistfully as well, and Monica and Emmeline grinned at each other. They'd both had their own bout of romance and loved it completely.

Just then, there was a loud bang at the window.

Lily gave a shriek, thrown out of her thoughts of romance by the noise.

Hestia went and opened the window, and a ruffled, worn-looking owl fluttered inside. She accepted the letter, and the owl disappeared outside into the dark once more.

With a glance at the postmark she announced, "Lily, it's from Andy."

* * *

Aha! Another cliff-hanger! (grin of pure evil) I apologize for the mistakes, but I'm too tired and it's too late for editing. (yawns) G'night, all! **E.D.J.**  



	26. An End and Perhaps a Bit of a Beginning

**Disclaimer**- I disclaim it all as everyone will for generations to come.

**Authoress's Note- **Well. Perhaps I shouldn't have left you all hanging for so long, eh? (coughs) I could make excuses, but most of them would be completely and utterly made up for your and my own entertainment value, so I will leave all those off. I CAN say that I haven't been completely inactive since the last time I updated any of my stories; I wrote a new summary for Seven Years of Marauding and did some much needed editing on a few chapters, but I'm sure you're not all as interested in that as the chapter below this type. So I will just say I get a little twinge of pride knowing I've finally finished one of my fanfiction stories, and I'd like to thank all you readers immensely for staying with me to the end. I went off on a bit of a reminiscent tangent farther into the chapter, so bear with me. I hope you've all enjoyed the ride as much as I have. **E.D.J.**

**Much, much love to my reviewers!**

**ThelovelyladyLily- **We should campaign against people who get James's eye color wrong! (evil grin) I've very glad you liked the descriptions as I am very much aware that my description skills are not always up to par! I love you describing Andy as 'the guy who's ruining everything'! It made me laugh when I read your review!

**Pauly- **I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long!

**you-don't-understand- **Oh no, please don't be so hard on yourself about your looks and such! I'm sure you're a wonderful person, both inside and out. And well, I won't force you to embrace your romantic side, but if you want to! Yay for hugs from the boy you like! Yes, sarcasm is absolutely wonderful; I think I've picked up my taste for it from watching too many Friends episodes. I've very glad you liked the transformation description because as I said to **thelovelyladyLily** I can be rather lacking in that department. Yes Andy is 'The Boyfriend'. Yes, clumsy Sirius Black ... (laughs) I think that's just always how he comes out when I write him because he's always banging himself against things in Seven Years of Marauding ... Hmm. Oh don't apologize for long reviews! I LOVE long reviews, and besides, you should see how long of reviews _I_ send. I mean it, they're enormous.

**fujutsu**- I'm glad you like the story!

**vixen black- **I'm glad you're excited about finding out what will happen in the letter! Andy, a git! Yes, I suppose he is just because he's in the way.

**Auramistealia**- I'm glad you liked the chapter! Ah yes, the movie _Never Been Kissed_ with Drew Barrymore. It's phenomenal. And it has Michael Vartan! (rather fangirl-like scream) He just makes me squee at the sight of him. I'm glad you liked the girl talk as well, and I'm sure everyone is wondering what Andy's letter says. (grins evilly)

**nothinrunlikeadeere**- Oh that's alright. I'm quite aware that I'm evil. In fact, I'd probably be hurt if you didn't say I was evil!

**Skippy- **Oh it's completely alright about the Marissa thing. Yes, everyone does seem to have O.C. obsession, don't they? I've watched maybe three episodes of it, and it was good but in a teen soup opera kind of way (this being said by an ex-Days of Our Lives obsessee). And yes, don't we all know that pushing feelings away never works? Sirius's reply was rather worrying, wasn't it? (sighs) That boy ... Yes I PROMISE I will post if I ever decide to completely leave. I had one moment about a month ago where I got so angry at (I believe it was mostly because Serena's work is gone, grrr ...) I typed up a letter for my author's page stating I was done and finished here forever, but right after I posted it, I changed my mind, and two minutes later it was gone. I suppose it was a good way to vent though. (sighs) Yes, they deleted Serena's work for breaking the new 'no song lyrics' policy, and she and I were in a tizzy for a while because she'd lost all her work when her computer got fixed or something (?). But thankfully someone had it all saved. She's joined The Great Break too, though not as someone completely leaving I believe. Which reminds me I have to e-mail her ...

**brooklyngirl**- No, I still don't have the new Princess Diaries book yet! I almost bought it yesterday, but I had four other books that were all at least $15 each, so I put it back. (sigh) I'm glad Meg Cabot commented on the horribleness of the movies in it though! (cackles) I'm glad you liked the new chapter!

**Harry Lvr- **I'm glad you liked the chapter! And well, Remus might tell Em, he might not. That would be telling ... (cackles)

**hiei's lil dragon**- Will Lily and Andy be breaking up? Only reading can tell ...

**iLoV2ObSeSS- **Funny, talented, and evil? Thank you! All wonderful compliments! (grins) I'm so glad you like the story!

**goth hamster- **I'm glad you like the story! And you've MET Tamora Pierce! Lucky you. I want to meet her! (pouts) As to your questions ... I apologize if I'm a bit vague in some areas; I don't like to give out a lot of my personal information. How old am I? Well, I'm still in high school; I'll tell you that much. Where do I live? The U.S. My favorite book? Besides Harry Potter? (laughs) Anything by Tamora Pierce (except her Circle of Magic books, which I haven't read yet), Ella Enchanted, Crown Duel and Court Duel, and almost anything by Robin McKinley. Favorite movies? Funny Girl and What's Up, Doc? with Barbra Streisand, Aladdin, Moulin Rouge, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. How did I pick my user name? I always liked the name 'Elladora' from when I first ran across the name Elladora Ketteridge, the discoverer of gillyweed, and I combined it with a funny name of a magical bird from Harry Potter, and voila instant user name! And the D.? Well that just looks nice. And I'm sorry I only give my screen name out to people who I know in real life (with one exception), and also I'm hardly ever signed on to AIM anymore, so you'd hardly ever catch me on anyway!

**psychoravenclaw- **I'm glad you love the story!

**MagicFairyDuster- **James, a snobby stag. Heh heh. Mr. Bean as in Rowan Atkinson! That's the only Mr. Bean I've heard of. Or Rowan Atkinson of the British comedy show Blackadder? I've taken to watching too much BBC America as you can tell! I love British comedy! I am quite upset they stopped showing Blackadder just when I discovered it. Hmph.

* * *

**Ch. 26- An End and Perhaps a Bit of a Beginning **

"_Lily, it's from Andy."_

The four girls sat in silence, looking as if they were all trying to recall who Andy was, as he had been pushed into the background to make room for the whirlwind of other events that summer. Even Lily hardly spoke of him, though her three friends had been hard-pressed to get her to speak at all as of late. It seemed she'd taken to spending her time lost in her own thoughts, though no one was quite sure what exactly Lily was mulling over.

Finally, Lily said, sounding a lot more cheerful than she felt, "Well, give it here, Hest!"

As if in a daze, Hestia slowly handed the envelope to Lily, who quickly tore it open and drew out the letter. Lily's face betrayed nothing as she read, her eyes moving back and forth over her boyfriend's neat, precise hand.

Then, without a word, the letter slipped from between her fingers, and it fluttered silently to the floor.

* * *

The sun was coming up; Remus could feel it. 

He blinked his eyes blearily and saw the stag looking at him tiredly, as if he would've very much liked to curl up and go to sleep. The large black dog seemed to have already given into his own feelings of sleepiness, as he was sprawled out on his back, mouth wide open, with only the occasional twitch of a paw to show that he was still alive and breathing.

And the rat? He was scurrying around, (as rats are often prone to do) searching for any crumbs the four boys may have dropped, which there were quite a lot of, them being teenage boys and all. The rat gave an acknowledging squeak and a twitch of his whiskers to Remus before happily turning back to the half a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean he'd recently discovered in one of the room's corners.

Remus gave a satisfied smile (or as much of a satisfied smile as a large werewolf can give) that everyone was present and accounted for. Then he felt his limbs begin to tremble as a ray of pale sunlight burst through the small bit of window to illuminate the room.

Then the pain started. Snout slowly shortened, shaggy fur sunk back into pale, clammy skin, hands and feet appeared from where paws had been only moments before, and finally Remus's other-worldly howling transformed into human screams. Those pained screams gradually faded and gave way to loud, convulsing sobs from the pale, shaking form huddled on the floor.

Silently, stag, dog, and rat transformed back into their respective human forms.

Remus felt something soft and warm placed around his shoulders, and he clutched at it, recognizing a blanket.

"Shh, Moony, it's alright," murmured his friends' voices soothingly as they had many times throughout that year. "It's over."

Remus slowly rose to his feet, a little unsteadily as his legs shuddered beneath him, unused to two legs once again. "Did—did anything happen?" he rasped, his voice tired from the howls and screams.

James, Sirius, and Peter shook their heads solemnly, and Remus breathed a sigh of relief as he always did when they reassured him that he hadn't bitten, killed, or torn apart any poor, unsuspecting people.

"Moony," Peter murmured quietly, "Em has a right to know."

"I know she does!" he snapped, whirling around menacingly, and his friends each took a step or two backwards as a glimmer of that awful wildness flashed in their friend's eyes.

Remus groaned and hung his head. "I'm sorry, Peter, mate. It's just … how in the world will she be able to understand it all? How'll I know if she can only see the werewolf side of me? What if she can't accept it? What if … she's afraid of me?" He let the questions hang in the air, and Remus turned to his friends, a desperate look in his eyes.

The three boys shifted uncomfortably before James finally said cautiously, "I suppose it's all up to fate. And luck."

Remus buried his head in his hands and muttered, "_That's_ what I was afraid of. Bloody fate."

* * *

Emmeline, Hestia, and Monica stared at the letter lying on the floor for a few moments, studying the back of it silently, before all three dove forward to retrieve it, their curiosity getting the better of them. 

Not one of them noticed Lily fall slowly backward into her chair, a new tautness to her face.

Monica was the one to get a hold of the letter first, and she slowly smoothed the creases out of it, and with a look at Lily that proved her assumption that her friend was lost in her own thoughts once more, she opened her mouth to read it aloud.

_Lily,_

_Well, I know I promised to write to you all during the holidays, but things have been just so … confusing lately, and now nearly at the end of the summer, I've finally seemed to have figured it all out. _

_I think, I mean I _know_, that we should break this whole thing off. _

A small gasp escaped Monica's mouth, and all three girls looked pointedly at Lily, who refused to meet their eyes and merely continued to stare fixedly out the window. So Monica continued.

_I know it's absolutely horrible to do this sort of thing in a letter, and if I could do it in person I would, but I would feel much too guilty waiting until term starts again. _

_I've—Merlin, you would think this would be easier to put in writing, but it's not—met someone else. She's actually a Muggle on holiday here from England, and you've no idea how hard it is to hide the fact that I'm a wizard from her. Actually, you probably have some idea since you've had to hide that you're a witch from your neighbors and such since you were eleven, so I suppose you don't have quite as much sympathy for me as I might hope. _

_I solemnly swear that I haven't cheated on you in any way, shape, or form. I'm not that type of bloke, Lily, and I hope you realize that. I also wouldn't dare because you're more than capable of getting your revenge in a number of different ways, most of which would most likely create intense physical pain on my behalf._

_I really think you have every right to learn about all this before I even _think_ of asking Julia (that's her name by the way) for something more. I'm sure you're upset by this letter, and I know no matter how many times I apologize, it'll still hurt. You're an amazing girl, Lily Evans. Really amazing._

_Andy _

_P.S. I know if I was telling you this in person, I'd be receiving a nice ringing smack 'round the ears for even mentioning it, so I believe writing it is much less life-threatening: James is really quite a nice bloke, Lily. If you opened your eyes a bit more, you'd be quite surprised at what you'll see. _

Lily let out a short bark of disbelieving laughter before breaking down into loud, heart-wrenching sobs.

* * *

The last few weeks of August were a blur for Lily, and her friends constantly fretted with worry over her. She'd gotten over the shock of her breakup with Andy fairly quickly, but still; she wasn't herself. 

It wasn't that she seemed unhappy exactly, more lost. Hestia, Emmeline, and Monica had finally decided to give up on figuring out what was bothering her because every day Lily became a little more talkative, a little more herself again.

Monica and Sirius's relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds, and though everyone always pretended to vomit at the sight of the two of them together, everyone secretly found it endearing to find Monica dozing on the sitting room sofa, Sirius's head in her lap. They still bickered like squabbling first years from morning till night, but now the malicious and rankled edge to their voices was gone.

It had always been hard to place a finger on what was so perfect about Remus and Emmeline's relationship. Both were the same as they had always been: witty and sarcastic, yet still sensitive to everyone's feelings. Their relationship hadn't changed much from when they were only friends either, subtracting a few tongue-tied moments and adding a few stolen kisses for color, of course. But to see how both their faces lit up when they were together was enough to realize that both Em and Remus were quite content with what they had.

James had become more introverted like Lily in the past few weeks, though only Lily and her friends had a hunch why. Sirius, Peter, and Remus had prodded the girls along with James about what gotten both Lily and James into such a state, but all refused point blank to say a word.

Hestia and Peter were the same as they ever were in those last few weeks of the summer. Peter was his cheerful, eager to please self while Hestia remained quiet with her mischievous side shining through when she felt the need for it.

September first finally came, and it found the eight sixth years gathered inside a train compartment leaning out the window to wave goodbye to Hestia and James's parents as the Hogwarts Express slowly pulled out of the station.

They pulled their heads back into the compartment as the train gradually sped up, and for a moment, they all sat staring at each other, wondering if only one summer together had really changed them all so drastically. Sirius's arm was draped over Monica's shoulders, Emmeline was contently leaning against Remus, and all were chatting amiably, without a hint of a horrible spat in sight.

As Peter, Monica, and Emmeline began contemplating starting a large game of Exploding Snap to pass the time, James caught Lily's eye as she glanced up from her book.

"'Hélas, j'ai Transfiguré mes Pieds'," he pronounced rather fluently, reading the book's spine. "'Alas, I Have Transfigured … My _Feet_?'"

Lily sighed and tossed the book onto the seat next to her. "Yes, Hestia lent it to me. It's a play by some wizard named Malecrit, but I'm beginning to think the translation's no good."

James laughed and then he shifted uncomfortably. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"You are talking to me," Lily pointed out, grinning at him.

"Ha ha, very funny," he said sarcastically. "I'm serious. Outside the compartment? Please?" He looked rather pleadingly at her.

"Oh, alright," she said, a bit taken aback by the look on his face.

Together they maneuvered their way around the array of things strewn about the room until they managed to get outside the compartment.

A sinking feeling suddenly filled Lily's stomach as she turned to close the door. "Alright, what is it you'd like to talk about?" she asked, feeling she had a very good idea what it was going to be.

James cleared his throat and cast a furtive glance at the compartment door, as if he was half-expecting Sirius's grinning face to be peering through the glass. Finally, he said, "That night when you came to my house …"

Lily winced. "Oh. _That_. That was a mistake."

"A mistake?" he repeated. When she said nothing more, he said, "Explanations are in order, Miss Evans. That was a pretty_ big_ mistake."

"Alright," she said, throwing up her hands in surrender. "It was a combination of too many Butterbeers, my sugar-induced suggestion we play Truth or Dare, and Emmeline's sheer idiocy on her choice of a dare for me."

"Ah," James said shortly. "Well. Awkward."

Lily laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm sorry."

James's laughter joined her own. "You would think that Lily Evans apologizing to _me_ would help, but it really doesn't."

"I didn't think it would," she said, shaking her head. "I can promise it won't happen again though."

"Damn," he exclaimed, grinning at her. "That was a hell of a kiss, Lily."

"Oh, sod off, James!" she shouted, failing to sound very angry, opening the compartment door and shoving him through.

"Couldn't if I tried!" James shouted over his shoulder.

Lily just shook her head, and thought, Well, I guess a summer with the arrogant prat didn't turn out so bad after all.

* * *

**What will next summer bring? Coming soon (hopefully) ... **

Will Remus ever tell Emmeline that he is a werewolf or will he continue to keep the fact hidden from her?

Will Monica and Sirius's relationship last or will their constant bickering tear them apart

And as always ... What's on the horizon for Lily and James? Love or romance? Or will something bigger sever the progress they've made?

* * *

Again, thank you all for your wonderful support and reviews! The ending was actually supposed to turn out a bit differently with Lily being kind of insensitive and the title for the chapter worked with that ending, but then once I'd finished the chapter, I'd realized I'd _forgotten_ to make Lily insensitive and had to change the title. To suffice, I like the new ending better! I can't set a date for when I'll start the sequel; I'm planning on finishing my Rita Skeeter fic Clawing My Way to the Top before I start the sequel. So if you all want to review and tell me to start finishing it up, so I can start the sequel to Summer with the Arrogant Prat ... (grin) Much much love!** E.D.J.**

* * *


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